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Saturday, July 4, 2009 4:53:22 PM
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Homicide total rises to 355

Four die over the weekend, all by gunfire

By Larry Miller
–TRIBUNE FILE PHOTOS
Police reported two 20-year-old men were wounded by gunfire near the campus of St. Joseph’s University. The incident happened at 54th Street and Wyndale Avenue in the city’s Wynnefield section shortly before 3 a.m.
Tribune Staff Writer

Four more African-American males, one of them a 17-year-old boy, died over a bloody and violent weekend in separate but unrelated shootings throughout the city.

There were also nine non-fatal shootings, including two students near the campus of St. Joseph’s University, who were wounded in what police said was an attempted robbery.

According to police reports, the number of violence related deaths have risen to 355, including the death of Terrence Bell, 27. Bell was critically wounded by gunfire last Thursday in the 5300 block of Locust Street. Bell died of his wounds Friday. His 12-year-old daughter was also wounded in the same incident but survived. The deadly weekend killing spree began Friday at 7:42 p.m. in the 100 block of West Manheim Street. The victims, Theodus Small, 45, and Omar Williams were engaged in an argument that escalated into a short gun battle, in which the men shot and fatally wounded each other.

Police said Small sustained a gunshot wound to the chest and Williams was struck in the head.

The bloodshed continued into Saturday, where at 1:51 a.m. police were called to the 2100 block of South Saggett Street. Police found the victim, 19-year-old Isaiah Sizer, of the 5800 block of Pentridge Street, inside a parked car with a gunshot wound to the chest.

A second victim, an 18-year-old male, was found at the same location with a gunshot wound in the leg.

Both victims were transported to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. Sizer was pronounced dead at 2:36 a.m.

The other victim was treated and released. Police, who have no motive for the shooting and have made no arrests as of Tribune press time, have withheld his name.

In an unrelated shooting Saturday at 7:16 p.m. in the 1400 block of South Hanson Street, police were called to the vicinity in response to reports of gunfire.

When they arrived, they found the victim, Durrell Marshall, 56, of the 100 block of East Indiana Street lying on the street with a gunshot wound to the thigh.

Marshall was taken to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania where he was later pronounced dead.

Police have determined that the motive was an argument but have made no arrests.

At 9:53 p.m. police were called to the 200 block of North Salford Street in response to another shooting. The victim was identified as 17-year-old Kaire Oakes of Lansdowne. An unknown gunman shot Oakes in the chest.

He was rushed to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania where he was pronounced dead at 10:17 p.m. Police report no arrests in the case as of Tribune press time.

Less than a half-hour later, another shooting took place in the 5600 block of Broomall Street.

The victim, Jameel Clark, 21, of South 68th Street was found by police with multiple gunshot wounds to the chest.

In unrelated incidents, nine people were wounded by gunfire, including a man shot by Philadelphia Housing Authority police, a man who was wounded when he allegedly tried to rob a barber shop and another man shot by SEPTA police officer after he allegedly tried to rob a commuter at an El station.

Police also report that two 20-year-old men were wounded by gunfire near the campus of St. Joseph’s University. The incident happened at 54th Street and Wyndale Avenue in the city’s Wynnefield section shortly before 3 a.m.

The two male students were near 54th Street and Wyndale Avenue when they were approached by at least three people, one of them armed with a handgun, according to Joe Lunardi, spokesman for St. Joseph’s.

“Two college students, one from St. Joseph’s and another who was a visitor, were off campus at that hour, no one seems to know why at this point. They encountered at least one, maybe two or three individuals, with a handgun. In attempting to escape, two students were struck. Thankfully both look like they are going to be OK,” he said.

Lunardi said one suffered a broken leg from the gunfire. The other was struck in the abdomen but his injuries are not life threatening. Philadelphia police are investigating.

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