PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – By Sunday morning, there had been at least 503 homicides in Philadelphia in 2021, surpassing the previous record of 500 in 1990. Police said the latest murder took place last night in Olney, where the man was almost shot. 20 times on West Duncannon Avenue.
Last week, Mayor Jim Kenney said the number of lives lost due to gun violence is out of control.
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“It’s heartbreaking, heartbreaking, it’s awful to get up every morning and look at the numbers,” Kenney said last week.
City officials and police are also asking the public to help locate the suspects.
As the holiday weekend approached, the 33-year-old man was shot full body 18 times. He was pronounced dead at Einstein Medical Center just after 7 p.m.
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An hour earlier, just before 3 p.m., a 51-year-old man was shot down in the 700-block of North 10th Street as he was leaving a nearby grocery store.
Friends and family recognized him as Michael Muhammad. They also say that too many people are dying from senseless gun violence.
“I came out, went across the street and saw him on the ground just lying next to his car,” Ralonda Bentley, who lives in Poplar, said. “Again I came out to see what was happening, and he was lying on the ground, the same thing, and one police officer and a citizen helped put him in a police car.”
Police are still looking for shooters at both incidents. Anyone with information that could lead to an arrest is asked to call the police.
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