3 dead, 1 critical in Philly gun violence

Gun violence surged in Philadelphia late Monday into early Tuesday, leaving two men and one woman dead and a third man clinging to life, police said.

Thomas Samarco, 37, of East Frankford, was gunned down about 11 p.m. Monday on the 700 block of East Allegheny Avenue in Kensington, police said. Officers found him on the ground with fatal wounds to his left shoulder and upper back.

As medics pronounced Samarco dead at 11:11 p.m., a 33-year-old man was being rushed to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania after being shot multiple times minutes earlier on the 500 block of North Creighton Street in the Mill Creek section of West Philadelphia, police said.

Doctors pronounced him dead at 11:17 p.m. His name was not released Tuesday.

About 1:35 a.m., a 23-year-old man and an 18-year-old woman were shot in the living room of a residence on the 2800 block of Sebring Road in the Northeast, police said.

The woman suffered a gunshot wound to the head and was pronounced dead minutes later as officers and medics arrived, police said. Her identity was not released Tuesday. The man suffered a gunshot wound to the abdomen and was rushed to Aria Health Torresdale campus in critical condition, police said.

Police reported no arrests or possible motives in any of the shootings.

Philadelphia remains on track to record its lowest annual homicide count since 1968.

Philadelphia entered Tuesday with 148 homicides for the year to date, according to police statistics. At this same point one year ago, there were 210 homicides.