Three dead in city violence streak

A paraplegic man shot and killed his brother while trying to stop him from beating his sister, police said, in one of three violent episodes late Saturday night and early Sunday morning that also left two other men dead - one shot, the other stabbed.

Police said John Mapp, 40, was found lying in the street outside a home at 58th and Filbert Streets in West Philadelphia with a gunshot wound to the chest about 3:40 a.m. Sunday. The victim's brother, who police did not identify, said Mapp had become physically abusive to both him and his 38-year-old sister, police said. He shot Mapp when his brother advanced toward him during the altercation, police said.

The victim was taken to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, where he underwent surgery. He was pronounced dead at 6:53 a.m.

Police are continuing to investigate the shooting and did not say whether criminal charges would be filed.

In a shooting late Saturday, a 47-year-old man was shot dead on the 2100 block of West Spencer Street. The victim, Thomas Fields, of the 1400 block of North Corlies Street, was shot once in the chest and once in the neck, police said. He was taken to Albert Einstein Medical Center by private automobile and pronounced dead at 11:40 p.m.

In the stabbing incident, a 41-year-old unidentified man was found on the 3100 block of Tasker Street and pronounced dead at 4:26 a.m. at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.

Police have made no arrests in that stabbing or the Spencer Street shooting and know of no motives in either.