Skip to content
Crime & Justice
Link copied to clipboard

Cashier stabbed at Philly 7-Eleven

The employee was stabbed in the neck, head and shoulder. A search for the attacker is continuing.

Security image of the suspect being sought in the stabbing at a Center City 7-Eleven.
Security image of the suspect being sought in the stabbing at a Center City 7-Eleven.Read morePhiladelphia Police Department

A cashier at a 7-Eleven store in Center City was stabbed repeatedly, including in the neck, Sunday morning during an encounter with a man — believed to be homeless — who launched the attack while attempting to buy cigarettes, police said.

The stabbing took place inside the 7-Eleven  at Market and Juniper Streets, across from City Hall, around 6:19 a.m. The injured store clerk, who is 58 (police earlier reported his age as 62), was in stable condition at Hahnemann University Hospital, where he was admitted for treatment and observation, police said.

A search is underway for the attacker, described as 6-foot, black, 45 to 50, and with a thin build, dark complexion and beard. He was wearing a dark shirt with a white vertical stripe down each sleeve, blue jeans and black-and-white sneakers. He dropped a knife and jacket on the store floor before fleeing without taking anything, police said.

According to police, the man had walked into the store and asked for Newport cigarettes. When the cashier started to put one pack in a bag, the man asked for five more. When told the cost of those additional packs, the man pulled a large knife from his pants pocket and attempted to stab the cashier in the head, police said. He then jumped up on the checkout counter and stabbed the clerk in the head, neck and shoulder, during which the clerk wrestled with him until the man ran off, police said.