Surveillance footage taken from inside the posh Piazza at Schmidts in Northern Liberties captured what a police captain called the "organized, calculated" shootings of Saturday's two homicide victims, 34-year-old Rian Thal and Timothy Gilmore, 40.
Thal and Gilmore were ambushed and gunned down outside Thal's apartment by three men who lay in wait and cornered them in the hallway, police said yesterday. A fourth man acted as a lookout. The stakeout and shooting took about 30 minutes.
Investigators say they believe Thal and Gilmore were targeted because of their involvement with drugs. Both were known to law enforcement authorities, and police say they suspect Gilmore, of Ohio, was Thal's accomplice in drug deals.
A law enforcement source familiar with the drug underworld called Thal a "facilitator," who would store and hold drugs for dealers. Police say they found four kilograms of cocaine in Thal's apartment, along with more than $100,000 in cash.
Philadelphia Police Capt. James Clark would not specify how Thal was involved with illegal drugs but said, "We know she was in the game."
Clark said the gunmen likely intended to get into Thal's apartment, where they may have known she had drugs and money. But what may have begun as a robbery "probably went wrong really quickly," Clark said, and after words were exchanged, the shooters opened fire. Clark said the gunmen probably knew when Thal and Gilmore would return to the apartment.
Thal, who threw parties at some of the city's trendiest nightclubs, was known to hang out with local rappers, celebrities, and professional athletes. Her events drew big crowds, and her MySpace profile depicts a smiling Thal posing with clubgoers and members of the local hip-hop scene. Her apartment was on the top floor of a trendy, $100 million complex in one of the city's hottest neighborhoods.
Friends and colleagues described Thal as hardworking, professional, and upbeat. She called herself "RiGirl" and was often the life of the parties she diligently organized.
Friends said they never picked up hints that Thal may have had another, more dangerous job.
"This is shocking to me, unbelievable," said Lisa Natson, DJ "Golden Girl" on Power 99 FM, who worked at parties hosted by Thal at the Plush nightclub at Eighth and Callowhill Streets. "You just never know what people are into."
In Plymouth Meeting, where Thal has family, a woman who answered the phone would not comment.
Police are still investigating Thal's connection to Gilmore.
Gilmore was originally from Detroit, where he worked as a firefighter until he was injured and left on disability, said his brother, Ernest Gilmore. He then moved to Ohio, where he married, had a young daughter, and worked as a dump-truck driver. After that, he was divorced and drove an 18-wheeler, Ernest Gilmore said.
Ernest Gilmore said he had never heard of Thal and had no idea why his brother would have been in Philadelphia.
"This is a very hard time," he said. "It's really a shock. The police are telling me it's drugs, but I just don't understand."
Ernest Gilmore said his brother came to Philadelphia with a roommate, but Clark would not say whether Gilmore traveled here alone.
Saturday's attack was meticulously planned, Clark said, and seemingly all the elements of that plan were documented on security footage released yesterday. (To see the surveillance video, visit Philly.com.)
A man first entered the Piazza around 5 p.m., cameras show. He followed a resident into the lobby, but the resident seemed not to notice him. That man, who was talking on a cell phone, later opened the door for the two other gunmen after waiting in the lobby for a few moments. A fourth man also entered the building, Clark said.
Three men went up to the seventh floor while another took the stairs to the sixth. The three on the seventh floor were armed. At times the men appeared to communicate via the stairwell.
Two men positioned themselves in the stairwell next to the elevators on the seventh floor, where Thal and Gilmore would get off. A third stationed himself in the stairwell at the opposite end of the hallway, near Thal's apartment.
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