'Running from his own demons': Was drug use behind man's violent rampage?

On Sept. 8, Christopher Sowell proudly posted on his Facebook page a photo of his 8-year-old son heading back to school.

But 20 days later, shortly before 7 p.m. Wednesday, Sowell - identified Thursday by an aunt and police - stabbed his young son, choked his daughter, and injured three other people in what Police Commissioner Richard Ross described as a "violent rampage" at two West Philadelphia locations, two blocks apart.

Sowell's brutal spree ended shortly after 7, when police fatally shot him on Cobbs Creek Parkway near Webster Street.

What could have made a seemingly doting father turn on his own children?

Police and relatives believe drugs fueled Sowell's rage.

"We don't know why," Ross said Wednesday night on Cobbs Creek Parkway. "We only know from interviews that the daughter indicated she thought her father was high on drugs."

Sowell's aunt Kim Goodman said she never knew him to be violent before this.

One of four brothers, he had a tough upbringing but was "not a violent kid at all," Goodman said.

"It's very surreal," she said. "This is all very crazy."

Sowell, 32, recently began using drugs, his aunt said. He had worked as a welder but lost his job "a while ago" and used drugs to cope, she said.

"He was running from his own demons," she said.

According to court records, Sowell pleaded guilty to three counts of robbery in Delaware County in 2004 and was sentenced to 21 to 42 months in state prison. Court records show he also had been arrested in Philadelphia in 2003 and charged with robbery, simple assault, and firearms violations, but the charges were withdrawn by the District Attorney's Office.

Police said the rampage began at Sowell's home on the 6200 block of Hazel Avenue in West Philadelphia, where he choked his 12-year-old daughter, who suffered no major injuries. He then cut his 8-year-old son's throat and stabbed him in the chest before turning to his son's 13-year-old friend, whom he also stabbed several times in the chest, police said.

Both boys remained in critical condition Thursday afternoon at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

After attacking the children, Sowell ran about two blocks to a family friend's home on Cobbs Creek Parkway near Webster, police said. Two women inside, ages 41 and 70, allowed him in to have something to eat, according to Ross.

Once inside, Sowell took a steak knife from the kitchen and cut the 70-year-old's throat, police said. He then repeatedly punched the 41-year-old woman in her face.

The older woman was taken to Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, where she remained in critical condition Thursday. The younger woman was taken to Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital, where she was listed in stable condition.

"We know he assaulted all those people in a very violent rampage," Ross said, noting that the police call was for "screams and shots fired."

When Sowell came out of the friend's house, a throng of police officers ordered him to take his hands out of his pockets several times, Ross said.

Sowell eventually took his hands "abruptly" out of his pockets with an unknown item in one hand, and nine officers opened fire, Ross said. The officers assumed he had a firearm and thought they saw one, but police did not recover a gun, Ross said.

A cellphone was found next to Sowell's body, according to police, and knives were found at both crime scenes.

Authorities have not said how many rounds were fired or how many times Sowell was hit.

Kezia Davis, 39, who lives next door to the home where police killed Sowell, was still shaken Thursday morning as she and daughter Taylor walked their dog, Azul, a 110-pound cane corso. She identified the older woman who was slashed as Toni Finney, who she said is a day-care owner and a good friend. She said she did not know the other woman.

Davis said police were justified in shooting the man but questioned why they fired so many bullets at him on a residential block.

"It sounded like they set off a whole box of firecrackers," Davis said, shaking her head. "It was horrible because I feel like they put my family in a great deal of danger with as many shots as they did. I heard the bullets ricocheting off the walls."

Davis said no bullets went into her house.

"There were a hundred police officers out there. I stood in the door for hours watching them looking for a gun," she said. "I saw the gentleman lying there full of blood. They turned him over and eventually cuffed him."

Police and detectives were still canvassing the scene at 11 a.m. Thursday.

Two adjoining houses at Cobbs Creek Parkway and Webster were pockmarked with at least 25 bullet holes or places struck by bullets. Sowell's blood was pooled on the front steps of one of the houses. The glass storm door of the adjacent home was shattered.

Ken Mosley, 54, who lives several doors from the crime scene, said he returned home about 11:30 p.m. Wednesday to see most of the block, including his front yard, roped off in yellow police tape.

"It was overwhelming. It was almost surreal," he said. "But oddly enough, this was the nicest that the police have ever been to me."

farrs@phillynews.com

215-854-4225 @FarFarrAway

Staff writer Chris Palmer contributed to this article.