Teen shot multiple times and cops crash cruiser tops weekend violence
A neighborhood grocery-store clerk was shot dead yesterday afternoon on a tranquil block in the shadows of Martin Luther King Jr. High School, and police are scrambling to determine the motive and identification of the gunman, while tracking down other weekend homicides. The victim, identified as a 20-year-old Hispanic female, is the city's 294th homicide. She was inside the Family Deli Grocery store, on Walnut Lane near Cornelius Street, Germantown, about 2:20 p.m. when she was shot. She was pronounced dead at the scene. The victim "was shot once, maybe twice," said Police Capt. James Clark of the 14th District. "We are interviewing several workers and witnesses."
Although investigators aren't sure of the motive, Clark said that robbery hasn't been ruled out. "We don't know if it was domestic or something else," he said. "As of right now, we don't know exactly what the motive was."
The shooting was the latest in a string of weekend violence.
- At 3:51 p.m. yesterday, two 24th District officers in a police cruiser were extricated from their vehicle by fire rescue after they were broadsided by a white Honda with stolen Maryland tags, according to police.
The officers were treated at Temple University Hospital and released by 7 p.m. The unidentified male driver of the Honda was taken to Northeastern Hospital, where he remained in stable condition last night.
Police spokesman Ray Evers said the driver has been arrested, but he declined to detail the charges. He said that although the Honda tags have been identified as stolen, it is unknown whether the car also is stolen because the tags did not match the vehicle.
- At 2 a.m. yesterday, a 22-year-old man of Russian descent was stabbed numerous times in the upper body and neck by a man believed to also be of Russian descent, Evers said. The suspect apparently approached the man at a bus stop while he was waiting on relatives on Bustleton Avenue near Haldeman Street in the Bustleton section.
The man was pronounced dead at Frankford-Torresdale Hospital at 1 p.m. Police have not made any arrests. - On Saturday at 3 p.m., an 88-year-old woman was punched in the face by a man, believed to be in his 50s, who helped her load groceries into her car at a Northeast supermarket on Bleigh Avenue near Large Street, Evers said.
He said the woman became spooked after giving the man a ride to Castor and Cottman avenues. After asking the man to leave her vehicle, he instead punched her in the face and took control of her car, a tan, four-door 1998 Chevrolet Prism. The woman escaped with minor injuries. - Later Saturday, a man in his 20s was shot once under his left arm at 11:03 p.m. on Maryland Street near Musgrave, Germantown. The man, unidentified until notification of kin, was pronounced dead at Temple University Hospital at 11:22 p.m. - On Saturday at 1:20 a.m., police said that James Ransome, 19, of 57th St. near Upland, held up three men — two 20-year-olds and one 19-year-old — at gunpoint in the playground of Sharswood Elementary School, 2nd Street near Wolf in South Philly. Ransome allegedly struggled with the two older men, which led to Ransome firing twice, striking the 19-year-old in the stomach. The two other men held Ransome until polcie arrived a short time later. The 19-year-old was treated at Jefferson University Hospital and is listed in stable condition. Ransome was treated for minor njuries at Hanhemann University Hospital. Police have confiscated the gun from the shooting, and Ransome is in police custody. - And on Friday at 11:44 p.m., a 16-year-old boy was shot at least nine times in his buttocks and chest on Frazier Street near Media, in the Kingsessing section, Evers said. The youth was taken to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.