Police: Gunman stays at scene of Frankford homicide, admits shooting man

A 56-year-old man shot a 30-year-old man in the head in Frankford Thursday night, killing him, and then admitted the shooting to police, authorities said.

Police responded to Josephine Street, a dark, desolate stretch of alleyway off Orthodox Street behind Torresdale Avenue, at 10:17 p.m. Whey they arrived, they found the victim, whom police did not identify publicly Thursday night, and the shooter, Chief Inspector Scott Small said. The alleged shooter immediately admitted to officers that he'd shot the younger man in the head and handed over a revolver, Small said. He was taken to the Homicide Unit to speak with detectives.

Ten minutes later, medics arrived at the scene and pronounced the victim dead on the sidewalk in the weeded alley. His body was splayed under a white sheet next to a pickup truck with a bed full of trash bags, the narrow through-way dimly lit by the streetlight's yellowish glow as crime-scene investigators and detectives combed the scene.

Some neighbors at the scene said someone had been trying to break into the property where the man was shot recently, but one man said he was unsure whether that person had been trying to break into the truck, a garage in the alley, or a residence on Torresdale Avenue that backs up to Josephine Street.

Small said police early Friday could not confirm the circumstances surrounding the shooting, but added that the shooter staying at the scene and waiting for police to arrive was a bizarre move.

"It is unusual," Small said. "Normally the shooter flees."

He said detectives were checking several surveillance cameras in the area for any footage of the shooting. It was unclear early Friday whether the shooter had a permit to carry, or whether he lived in the residence the shooting happened near.