A man is dead, and a suspect is in custody after a shooting Wednesday morning in North Philadelphia, police said.
According to Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Scott Small, just after 1:30 a.m. Wednesday, July 2, 2025, officers were on patrol near the 1800 block of W. Hunting Park Ave. when they heard multiple gunshots coming from the 1900 block of W. Hunting Park Ave, right outside of a lounge.
Small said that when those officers got to the scene, they witnessed a man with something in his hands running away. The officers then chased the man and eventually caught up with him, taking him into custody.
From where the suspect was running, Small said officers found another man lying on the sidewalk unresponsive, suffering from gunshot wounds to his face, head, and torso.
According to Small, when medics arrived on the scene, they pronounced the shooting victim dead at 1:43 a.m.
“Right now, this victim is a John Doe. He appears to be a male in his 30s, but we’re not certain because he was shot in the face and the head, and there is a lot of blood, so it’s hard to identify approximately how old he is,” Small said.
After police took the suspect into custody, Small shared that officers retraced their steps through a nearby alley and found a semi-automatic handgun.
“We know at least 14 shots were fired from a semi-automatic weapon. Most or all of these 14 spent shell casings are just a few feet away from the victim’s body. Some of the shell casings are a few inches away from the victim’s body, which is an indication that the shooter was standing very, very close to the victim when these multiple shots were fired, striking and killing this victim,” said Small.
Small said at this time they don’t have a motive for the shooting, but he is hopeful surveillance cameras in the area will help them piece together what happened.