BY DAVE GAMBACORTA OF THE DAILY NEWS At an age when most boys are focused on prom dates and driver’s licenses, police say two West Philly teens have been busy masterminding a staggering citywide crime wave. The boys — ages 15 and 16 — were arrested on Monday after they confessed to committing 14 bar robberies and two carjackings at gunpoint during the past month, said Lt. John Walker of Southwest Detectives. The teens, whose names were not released, were each charged with multiple counts of robbery and related offenses. “They pretended to be patrons but ended up demanding money […]

HARRISBURG — Despite an impassioned personal plea by Gov. Rendell to do more, a state House panel this morning endorsed one bill aimed at curbing gun violence but rejected two others and tabled action on a fourth.In a 27-2 vote, Judiciary Committee members approved a bill sponsored by Speaker Dennis O’Brien (R., Phila.) to create a mandatory minimum prison sentence of 20 year for anyone who fires a weapon at a police officer. Also by wide margins, the committee rejected bills that would limit the number of handguns a person can buy to one a month and allow cities to […]

INQUIRER: A 16-year-old male was shot to death late yesterday in the Connell Park area of Southwest Philadelphia, authorities said. The victim, whose name was not released, was shot in the head, chest and back about 7 p.m. in the 6500 block of Wheeler Street, police said. He was pronounced dead on arrival at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, investigators said. An alleged gunman, described as about 5-foot-7 and wearing a skull cap, was seen fleeing the area on foot. No arrests were made. MORE UPDATE: A 16-year-old male was shot to death yesterday evening in the Connell […]

A deadly night across the city as four people were shot and killed. Four people died in three separate shootings that happened around 2am as bars were closing. Homicide detectives say those two shootings appeared to have started with arguments in bars or clubs. Two people were shot in a parking lot near Front and Chestnut Streets around 2am. A 23-year-old man died from a gunshot wound to the head, another man suffered non-life threatening injuries. At about the same time, several people were shot at Broad and Sommerset Streets where two men died; a 37-year-old and a 25-year-old. At […]

Philadelphia Police this morning have arrested a 16-year-old male in connection with a double shooting last night in the Frankford section that left two Philadelphia police officers wounded. The two plainclothes narcotics officers were shot as they tried to serve an arrest warrant in the 2000 block of Oxford Street at about 6:30 p.m. One officer was shot in the leg, the other was hit in the hip. They were treated at a local hospital and released. Both were recovering at home this morning, police said. The teen, who police say lived at the house at 2013A Oxford St., will […]

DAILY NEWS: Izim Greer, 19, was shot once in the head shortly before 3 a.m. Saturday inside a home on 65th Street near Gesner, said Homicide Lt. Philip Riehl. Greer was pronounced dead at 3:05 a.m. by medics on the scene, police said. Police arrested John Bradley, of Saybrook Avenue near 65th Street, and charged him with Greer’s slaying, Riehl said. He said the shooting had been prompted by a dispute over Bradley’s girlfriend. Shortly after 12:30 a.m. yesterday, police found the body of a 23-year-old man on 7th Street near Poplar, North Philadelphia. The victim had been shot in […]

BY GEORGE ANASTASIA INQUIRER STAFF WRITER It was a bold move by an ambitious, young rap mogul. At a time when authorities suspected he controlled a vast cocaine operation in Southwest Philadelphia, Alton Coles [NOT pictured] decided to shoot a video about that very world. New Jack City: The Next Generation would depict the violent rise of a fictional Southwest Philadelphia cocaine ring that used fear, intimidation and murder to take over the streets. Coles, under his hip-hop nickname “Ace Capone,” would star in the 2003 rap music drama as a ruthless cocaine kingpin. It was, federal authorities now allege, […]

THE LAST MILE: Funeral procession for Officer Chuck Cassidy. R.I.P. [photo by VIC SUEDE]

BY CHRISTINE OLLEY OF THE DAILY NEWS A South Philadelphia man was riddled with bullets and killed early yesterday when four armed gunman stormed in his front door. Homicide Sgt. William Gallagher said the 25-year-old victim was shot twice in the chest, once in the head, and once in the back shortly before 1 a.m. in his house, on 30th Street near McKean. Gallagher said the intruders escaped with some money and other items. In another shooting, an unidentified man was wounded in the chest at G Street and Allegheny Avenue, in Kensington, shortly before noon yesterday. He was in […]

BY ANNETTE JOHN-HALL INQUIRER COLUMNIST In Philadelphia, half of last year’s 406 homicide victims were black males 15 to 29, and overwhelmingly they were killed by other black males. That’s a staggering number when you consider that black men make up only 4 percent of the population. This year, the numbers are no better. And all of this crisis has been met by apathy. A black problem. Let them solve it. We can argue about whether it really is just a black problem created by black people, but that’s a waste of time. The 10,000 men who showed up Sunday […]

INQUIRER: Declaring a new day in the struggle to reduce crime and violence in the black communities of Philadelphia, civic, community, government and religious leaders yesterday urged thousands of black men to step forward to help patrol streets. At an event billed as “A Call to Action: 10,000 Men” at the Liacouras Center in North Philadelphia, nearly 10,000 men — most of them dressed in black — gathered to volunteer to be “peacekeepers” in their communities. Many were lined up at tables with sign-up forms. A number already had registered online, organizers said. Looking out at the large audience, Police […]

Police are investigating an attempted robbery that turned fatal this morning at a recyling company in Germantown. Police said a gunman, who posed as a customer to get inside the facility, confronted employees in a garage at Geppert Recycling in the 4500 block of Wayne Avenue. Lt. Frank Vanore, a police spokesman, said that two workers were armed and that a shootout ensued. The gunman, who appeared to be in his 20s, was pronounced dead shortly after the 9:30 a.m. incident. [via the INQUIRER]   At about 11:35 last night, a man was fatally shot in Olney, police said. The […]

INQUIRER: Warminster police are looking for three men believed to have taken part in the killing of two people and the wounding of another at an apartment complex. “This is not a whodunit, it’s a where-are-they?” said chief Michael Murphy after SWAT operations at two locations failed to snare the suspects. Shortly before midnight, a gunfire erupted at the apartment of Mendez Thomas, 22, in the Bucks Landing Apartment Complex in the 100 block of East Street Road. Thomas was pronounced dead at the scene. Lisa Diaz, 27, was taken to Abington Hospital, where she died. Both had been shot […]