Investigators had a very busy night, and now have a lot of work ahead of them. In less than six hours, gunfire rang out in two Philadelphia neighborhoods. This morning, four men are dead and the search for suspects is just beginning.
Around 2:00 a.m., two men in a white Mercury Grand Marquis approached the intersection of Cobbs Creek and Walnut in Southwest Philadelphia. Two armed men were waiting for them, standing on the east side of the street.
Philadelphia Police Lt. John Walker explains, "[The] two males in the car, along with the two males on the east side of this intersection, began to fire from a 9mm and 380 semi-automatic handguns at one another."
The 21-year-old passenger in the car was rushed to The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and pronounced dead. The driver of the car died from multiple gunshots at Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital.
The armed suspects ran and got away in a black Buick.
"The victims are still unidentified," said Lt. Walker. "And currently we're still trying to identify those people and determine what actually happened out here."
Earlier in the night, homicide detectives were called out to East Mount Airy. Just after 8:00 p.m., two men were shot in the 8500 block of Fayette Street. A 40-year-old man suffered two gunshot wounds to the chest. Police rushed him to nearby Chestnut Hill Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
A second man, 42-year-old, described as a witness, was shot in the chest and face. He was taken to Einstein Medical Center and also pronounced dead.
Police believe the murders in Southwest Philadelphia may have been some kind of retaliation for a shooting that occurred on Tuesday night at 56th and Addison. Police also believe that the shooting in East Mount Airy may have resulted from some kind of a fight. One man brought an ice pick, the second man brought a switchblade and the third man brought a gun. Police say the man who brought a gun to that fight is on the run this morning.
