Police were called to the common driveway behind the 7500 block of Brous Avenue around 5:20 a.m. for reports of a shooting.
They found a man slumped behind the wheel, shot in the chest... the driver side window smashed out.
Chief Inspector Scott Small explains, "He's in the driver's seat of a Dodge Stratus, the engine is running, the lights are on and the driver door was found wide open."
An off-duty officer who lives nearby called in the shooting. He had heard gunshots and went out to see what happened. Ballistic evidence shows at least three shots were fired from a 40 caliber, semi-automatic handgun.
"We realized this individual was shot at very close point blank range," said Small.
Investigators spent hours collecting evidence and trying to find eyewitnesses. The car was eventually towed away.
This is normally a pretty quiet community. Neighbors and police alike say gunfire is uncommon here, let alone a homicide.
Neighbor Shirley Rednor described the ordeal as, "Frightening, I've been shaking all morning."
Bob Gaczhias, who also lives nearby, tells Action News, "I'm surprised. It's a nice neighborhood. A lot of police live here - firemen. You don't usually see a lot of trouble here."
The car is registered to an address in Northeast Philadelphia but not to a residence on the block where the shooting took place. So investigators say it is unclear what exactly brought the victim to the back driveway.
So far, the victim has not been identified.
