PHILADELPHIA (AP) Marvel Thornton-Cruz first carried a gun on the street at age 14. “I was young,” said Thornton-Cruz, now 28. “I just wanted to be cool. Pretty much most of my family was in the street.”
For some Black men and teens, relying on guns is commonplace lancasteronline.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from lancasteronline.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
On March 11, at 3:04 p.m., police responded to a shooting on the 1400 block of North 76th Street. Before police arrived, four shooting victims were taken by private vehicles to a local hospital.
Naquon Smith, 24, who was shot in the chest, arm and shoulder, was pronounced dead at 3:12 p.m. Tamir Brown, 16, who had been shot several times, was pronounced dead at 7:48 p.m.
Two more shooting victims, both 19 years of age, were placed in critical condition.
On March 18, Rodney Hargrove, 20, was released from the Curran Fromhold Correctional Facility. Shortly after his release, while he was waiting for transportation from the grounds of the jail facility at 8101 State Road, he was shot several times and killed. Police believe Hargrove’s murder was a case of mistaken identity.
16-year-old connected to four homicides, including a man shot outside a Philadelphia jail: police
Updated 11:00 PM;
Philadelphia police have arrested a 16-year-old who they say is connected to four killings since December, including the fatal shooting of a man who was gunned down after his release from a city jail last month.
Ameen Hurst, of Philadelphia, faces murder and related charges in connection with two shooting incidents: a Christmas Eve killing in Overbrook and a quadruple shooting in West Philadelphia on March 11 that left two men dead. Police said charges are also expected to be filed against him this week in connection with the shooting death of Rodney Hargrove, 20, near the front gates of the Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility in the middle of the night on March 18.
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Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility in Philadelphia’s Holmesburg neighborhood. (Kimberly Paynter/WHYY)
Updated: 1:30 p.m.
Philadelphia police have arrested a teenager in connection to the fatal shooting of 20-year-old Rodney Hargrove, who was killed last month on prison grounds less than an hour after he was released from the Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility in the Holmesburg section of the city.
Deputy Police Commissioner Benjamin Naish said Wednesday that 16-year-old Ameen Hurst had been charged with Hargrove’s murder, which unfolded around 2 a.m. on March 18.
“At this time, it appears that Mr. Hargrove, who was killed in that incident, was the tragic victim of mistaken identity,” said Naish during a virtual news conference. He said police have additionally connected Hurst to the murders of three other people.