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Teen learning to drive strikes, kills 2 homeless men in Port Richmond parking lot

The men were outside a dollar store in a shopping center on Aramingo Avenue when they were hit by a Ford Explorer with a 15-year-old girl behind the wheel.

File photo.
File photo. Read moreJessica Griffin / Staff Photographer

A 15-year-old girl who was learning how to drive in an SUV in a Port Richmond shopping center parking lot Monday night struck and killed two homeless men outside a store, police said.

The victims have not yet been identified.

The teen was with her mother and two other people in a black Ford Explorer when the accident occurred just after 8:45 p.m. outside the Dollar Tree in the shopping center in the 3600 block of Aramingo Avenue, police said.

"She was navigating into a parking spot and made a mistake. The vehicle lunged forward, striking two men who were seated at the wall of the dollar store," Philadelphia Police Capt. Mark Overwise told 6ABC.

A 54-year-old man was pronounced dead at the scene and his 55-year-old companion died a half-hour later at Hahnemann University Hospital, police said.

There was no word on possible charges.

In Pennsylvania, drivers must be 16 years old to obtain a learner's permit.