Three killed as Philly’s homicide count nears 100

Philadelphia’s stay-at-home order and the spread of the coronavirus hasn’t been able to halt the city’s growing homicide count.

Two people were killed Wednesday, a man was fatally shot Tuesday night, and several others were left hospitalized due to gun violence, according to police.

In South Philly, a 32-year-old man died after being stabbed in the neck at around 9:30 p.m. Wednesday on the 1000 block of Jackson Street, authorities said. Medics pronounced him dead at the scene.

Also on Wednesday, Raheem Stoner, 38, of East Germantown, was driving on the 1500 block of N. Marshall Street in North Philly at 2:45 p.m. when he was shot eight times in the upper torso, police said. He died less than two hours later at Jefferson University Hospital.

Officers recovered a gun inside Stoner’s Lincoln MKS.

The day before, in West Oak Lane, police responded just after 9:30 p.m. to the 1800 block of 65th Avenue and found 54-year-old North Philly resident Lorenzo Duncan inside a red pickup truck with multiple gunshot wounds.

Duncan later died at Einstein Medical Center. Police found a firearm in the truck, and authorities are treating his death as a homicide.

No arrests were reported in any of the killings.

Through Wednesday, 99 people have been killed in the city, a 14 percent increase compared to the same time last year, according to police data.

Three other people were in critical condition after being shot on Wednesday.

Just before 1 a.m., a 19-year-old man was dropped off at Mercy Catholic Medical Center in West Philly after being shot in the left eye and head. He was later taken to Penn Presbyterian Hospital, authorities said.

Investigators are still working to determine where he was shot. Whoever dropped him off left the hospital before police arrived.

In Strawberry Mansion, a 28-year-old man was shot in the head at around 6:30 p.m. on the 2900 block of Diamond Street. Officers rushed him to Temple University Hospital, where he was listed in critical condition. Police also recovered a gun from him.

Several blocks away and a couple of hours earlier, two men were struck by gunfire on the 2000 block of Judson Street, authorities said.

A 41-year-old man was shot three times in the back, once in the left leg, and he suffered a graze wound to the head. Police took him to Temple Hospital, and he was placed in critical condition.

The second victim, a 28-year-old man, arrived at the hospital in a private vehicle with a gunshot wound to the leg, police said. He’s in stable condition.

Then, at 11:49 p.m., a 20-year-old man was shot in the left shoulder on the 6700 block of N. 17th Street in West Oak Lane, according to authorities. He was taken to Einstein, where he is in stable condition.

On Tuesday, just before midnight, a pair of men were injured in a shooting on the 5800 block of Angora Terrace in Southwest Philly.

A 23-year-old victim was found with a gunshot wound to his left leg, and a 21-year-old man was shot in the left arm. Both are in stable condition, police said.

No arrests have been reported by police in any of the shootings.

Detectives are also investigating a car bombing in Eastwick. Authorities said someone threw a Molotov cocktail through the driver’s side window of a black Mercedes S550 early Tuesday morning on the 7300 block of Chelwynde Avenue.

Fire crews were able to extinguish the blaze just after 3 a.m., and it was ruled an arson. No one was injured, and no arrests have been made.