Philadelphia sets grim new record after 501st homicide of 2021

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- The city of Philadelphia has now reached 501 murders, surpassing the record of 500 homicides that was set in 1990.

The latest murder happened just before 9 p.m. Friday on the 7100 block of Ardleigh Street in East Mount Airy.

Police say a man in his 30s was shot five times. He was rushed to the hospital where he was pronounced dead.

No arrests have been made in the case.

SEE ALSO: 500th homicide: Person of interest arrested in connection with South Philly murder, police say

Anyone with any information is asked to call police at 215-686-TIPS.

City leaders spoke about the gun violence during a press conference earlier this week.

"It's terrible to every morning to get up and have to go look at the numbers and then look at the news and see the stories. It's just crazy. It's just crazy and this needs to stop," said Mayor Jim Kenney.

Kenney said that reducing the violence is his administration's top priority.

He also called on lawmakers in Harrisburg to allow the city to pass more restrictive gun laws to keep weapons off the streets.

"There are people making money selling these guns, making these guns, and the legislature, not the people behind me, don't care. They don't care how many people get killed. It's ridiculous. And cities like Boston and New York that are not dealing with this problem the way we're dealing with it, there are strict gun laws...we need to have some semblance of that. I'm not talking about people hunting deer," said Kenney.