76-year-old man on morning walk killed outside Juniata home: Police
The man was pronounced dead at the scene.
PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- A 76-year-old man on his morning walk was shot in the head outside his home in the Juniata section of Philadelphia, according to police.
It happened around 5 a.m. Tuesday on the 4200 block of Claridge Street near the intersection of East Hunting Park Avenue and L Street.
Neighbors said the victim, identified as Loi Nguyen, was well-known and always exercised before sunrise.
"Just to see somebody that just walks every day, and walks the streets of Philadelphia innocently, you know, that just hurts and it takes a lot from the city," said Tony Rodriguez, who lives nearby.
Church services were going on across the street when the shooting happened, leaving neighbors in disbelief.
"I'm shocked. I'm shocked. I'm very surprised," one neighbor said.
Philadelphia police said someone shot and killed the victim as he was returning from his walk.
"It's cold-blooded for somebody to do that," neighbor Richard Colon said.
Investigators said they found one spent shell casing from a semi-automatic weapon just a few inches from the victim.
Police said the man was found near his backyard door.
"So clearly the shooter walked right up to this individual and fired one shot," said Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Scott Small.
Some neighbors heard gunshots and called 911, while others said they were awoken by screams from the victim's family.
Police said this type of incident is uncommon for the area.
"It's one of the quieter sections of the 24th district, which is a large district," Small said.
This murder now adds to the rising totals of homicides in the city.
"It's a sad situation because we keep going through this over and over again and it's hard for us to move forward if we keep going backwards 10 steps," said Nasir Shawqi, founder of the anti-violence group 17 With Life. "We got to keep trying. It's a hard battle and it's going to take a lot of us."
Investigators said detectives are reviewing footage from cameras that recorded some of the incident.
Nguyen was Vietnamese-American.
Police are still investigating a motive for the shooting. Authorities say there is no word if this case will be investigated as an anti-Asian hate crime.
Anyone with information is asked to call police at 215-686-TIPS.
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