Violent day in Philly: 10 people shot, three of them fatally

Philadelphia suffered a day of mayhem Tuesday as gun violence left three people dead and at least seven others wounded across the city.

Among the victims was a pregnant woman who was shot in the head and stomach in an afternoon triple shooting in the city's Kensington section.

The total homicide tally included a woman found stabbed to death in her home in the city's Northeast during a murder-suicide, police said Wednesday.

The first shooting victim on Tuesday was a 25-year-old man gunned down shortly after 9 a.m. in West Philadelphia.

He was shot several times in the area of 52nd Street and Wyalusing Avenue and was taken by police to Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, where he was listed in stable condition. No arrests were reported.

The triple shooting occurred about 12:35 p.m. in the 1800 block of East Thayer Street in the Harrowgate section of Kensington.

Besides the pregnant woman, a man was shot in the stomach and head, police said. Neither of their ages was released. The third victim was a 22-year-old man shot once in the groin area. All three were in critical condition at Temple University Hospital. Police reported no arrests.

Just after 7:36 p.m., a  24-year-old man was found suffering from a gunshot wound to his head in the rear alley of the 5800 block of Hoffman Avenue in Southwest Philadelphia.

Police said the preliminary investigation revealed Cartagena was on the street doing something on his cellphone when an unknown man walked up to him and without speaking, opened fire. The gunman, described as black, about 5-foot-9, and wearing a white T-shirt and black shorts, was last seen running toward Gurney Street. The motive behind the shooting was unknown.

Just before 8:50 p.m., a 24-year-old man was shot in the back in the 1500 block of North Frazier Street in West Philadelphia. He was taken by police to Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, where he was listed in stable condition. Police reported one arrest in the case and a weapon recovered.

About 9:10 p.m., a 27-year-old man was shot twice in the back in the 6600 block of North Opal Street in West Oak Lane. He walked into Einstein Medical Center seeking medical attention and was reported in stable condition. Police reported no arrest.

Around 10 p.m., police found a 21-year-old man shot once in the head on the 1800 block of Snyder Avenue in South Philadelphia. He was declared dead by medics at the scene. The victim's name was not released, pending family notification.

A second shooting victim, a 27-year-old man, was located at Methodist Hospital, suffering from several gunshot wounds to his legs, police said. Because of the severity of his wounds, he was transferred to Jefferson University Hospital, where he was in critical condition, police said. No arrest was made in this case.

Shortly after 11 p.m., police reported another person shot in the 2800 block of North Lee Street in Kensington. No other information was immediately available on that incident.

Police on Wednesday also said a 64-year-old man found dead in an East Germantown apartment Monday after firefighters extinguished a fire there had actually been stabbed to death. The victim, Robert Lynch, was found dead in his apartment on the 500 block of East Church Lane.

About 9:15 a.m. Monday, police had gone to the apartment and were told by firefighters that after extinguishing a fire there, they found a man lying dead on the floor.  The man's body was in the advanced stages of decomposition and had sustained more damage from the fire, police said.

Police said that on Tuesday, an autopsy was performed and it was determined that Lynch had sustained numerous stab wounds to his body. The manner of death was ruled a homicide. No arrest was made in the case.

bmoran@phillynews.com
215-854-5983 @RobertMoran215

Staff writer Julie Shaw contributed to this article.