In Philly, no homicides in the first 5 days of 2018

For the first time since at least 2007, Philadelphia went five days into a new a year without recording any homicides, according to police.

The first homicide of 2018 happened around 6 p.m. Saturday, when a man and woman were shot while stopped at a traffic light in West Philadelphia. The man, identified Monday as Ryan Wilson, 27, of West Oak Lane,  was pronounced dead at the scene. The woman remains in critical condition at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center with gunshot wounds to her chest and arm.

In previous years, such as 2013 and 2014, the city had already recorded seven homicides by Jan. 5, according to the police department's website.

It could possibly be more than 11 years since Philadelphia went until Jan. 6 before recording is first homicide, but a police spokesman said that data was not accessible on a weekend.

By comparison, the first slayings of 2017 occurred shortly after midnight on New Year's Day. In one, a security guard at a Port Richmond bar shot and killed a man who assaulted him after he was refused entry. In the other, a 41-year-old man was found dead from a gunshot wound on the porch of a home in the city's Tioga section.

While most violent crime dropped in the city last year, Philadelphia marked 317 murders — a 15 percent increase over the previous year. It was the first time the city surpassed 300 homicides since 2012.

About a quarter of those homicides occurred within the 24th and 25th Police Districts in North Philadelphia.