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Monday, September 21, 2009

Elmwood grocer fatally shot in store

The Perlata Grocery appeared to be open for business earlier tonight, with its front door yawning open and a red-and-yellow sign glowing above.
But the usual neighborhood clientele were replaced by crime scene investigators and a murder scene in the Elmwood corner shop.
Domingo Rodriguez, the 53-year-old store owner, was gunned down during a robbery shortly before 7 p.m., said Homicide Sgt. Tim Cooney.
Rodriguez was standing behind a plexiglass enclosed counter when the robber entered, Cooney said.
The triggerman opened the door to the secure area, shot Rodriguez in the chest, then stole about $2,000 from the owner's pocket.
Investigators said the gunman darted out of the store, at 66th Street and Guyer Avenue, and fled in an unknown direction.
Rodriguez died at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania at 7:42 p.m., Cooney said.
Rodriguez’s wife, who was in the store at the time of the shooting, was unharmed. The store, which Rodriguez recently opened, had no working security cameras, Cooney said.
“I can’t believe they killed this man,” said Nicole Smith, a nearby resident. “What’s going on in this neighborhood?” Another resident who walked up to the scene described Rodriguez as a "big guy with a beard who was always happy." Others said Rodriguez sometimes let his young daughter work the store's cash register. Rodriguez's murder was one of three today. Police said a 25-year-old man was shot to death while sitting in a car near 64th and Callowhill streets in West Philly about 11 a.m. Another man was gunned down near 4th and Norris Streets in North Philly shortly after 7:45 p.m.
Posted by David Gambacorta @ 11:20 PM  Permalink | 6 comments
Comments   
  • Comment removed.
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 3:46 AM, 09/22/2009
    So Sad! Either the cops rob them, or someone kills them. Hey Ramsey, get off the social engagement's and out in the field.
    — FJG JR
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 7:51 AM, 09/22/2009
    Ramsey is busy making sure no one white wears cornrows.
    — mikeyg
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 12:50 PM, 09/22/2009
    We need the stop and search procedure implemented. I am a black man and I think it should happen. There ar to many people dying. It has to stop. I am outraged. Our streets are not safe and our people live in constant fear. I know because I treat them at a inner city community mental health center. The violence in the street has a great impact on mental and physical health. Not only does stop and search need to be implemented but there also needs to be a city curfew wjere if you are on the streets at a certain hour you should be stopped a searched and have your identification checked. I kow it is a hassle with alot of other controversy tied to it but we have to stop the killing. I dont mind being detained momentarily if it will save a life. We live in a lawless city.
    — Mikedub
  • Comment removed.
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 9:06 PM, 09/27/2009
    The 25 year old that was killed in his car was my family member ! I am so mortified that this happened. I was just talking to him and now he is gone ! All of this crime and killing is so senseless ! Its sad that innocent people are being killed. One thing I can say is that a bullet is not prejudice. I am worried that I could be shot for no reason and all I do is go to work and college ! I pray for the protection of everybody !
    — Miya J


6 comments
About The PhillyConfidential team

Dana DiFilippo has covered murder, mayhem and miscellany at the Daily News since 2000. She grew up in Delaware County and studied journalism and photography at Penn State University. E-mail tips to difilid@phillynews.com.

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Stephanie Farr has been reporting for the Daily News since 2007, covering everything from gay porn stars who entered the burglary business to moon trees, skinheads, murders and naked bike rides. She covers crime, both in the city and suburbs, and keeps clippings of bizarre Associated Press articles. Her favorite this year was the story about the drunk in Punxsutawney who gave mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to a dead opossum. E-mail tips to farrs@phillynews.com.

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Phillip Lucas joined the Daily News crime team in 2011. He grew up on the mean streets of Seattle and studied journalism and psychology at Howard University in Washington, D.C. Before landing in the City of Brotherly Love, Phillip was a reporter for The News Journal in Wilmington, Del. Email tips to lucasp@phillynews.com.

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Morgan Zalot is the newest crime reporter at the Daily News, starting in 2011 after interning at the paper twice as a Temple University journalism student. In her past stints at the DN, she covered just about everything, from drunken Phillies fans to a barber shop in a high school to a grisly murder-suicide. She’s a born-and-raised Philly girl who grew up in the Northeast. E-mail tips to zalotm@philly.com.

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