Police are searching for brothers Matthew Early (18 y.o.) and Eric Early (16 y.o.) of the 100 block of S. 49th St. in connection with the shooting of two men aboard an El train Wednesday night. The incident happened at about 10:40 p.m. at the stop at 46th and Market, police said.
The victims, a 30-year-old and 36-year-old, were shot after an argument with the teens. While exiting the train, one of the teens pulled a gun and shot the 36-year-old man in the stomach. The bullet passed through him and then hit the 30-year-old man who was sitting behind him. Both victims were transported to HUP where they were listed in stable condition this morning. Reportedly, the argument that led to shooting was about the 76ers-Bulls game, from which the older man was returning wearing a Bulls jersey.
The teens got off the train at 46th and Market and fled.
UPDATE: Police have released video that includes footage from the surveillance cameras on the train and on the 46th and Market station platform (see below). If you have any information about this crime, please call 911 or Southwest Detectives Division at 215-686-3183/3184. (source: Philly Police Blog)
December 13th, 2012 at 12:18 pm
Yikes! That’s awful. Now I know what the helicopters were about last night around that time.
December 13th, 2012 at 12:36 pm
Holy crap…thank God I got out of West Philly. I used to take that train all the time.
December 13th, 2012 at 1:30 pm
I told my daughter to be sure she has her carry permit with her and aim for the head…nothing like an empty crainal vault to start the day.
December 13th, 2012 at 1:52 pm
Just9numbers, that’s insensitive, unfunny, and in very poor taste. Advocating violence is not the way to respond to incidences such as these. If you’d really like to post comments like that, you’d best head over to Philly.com where you will find many like minded individuals.
December 13th, 2012 at 4:23 pm
Awwww, did I hurt your feelings? Tough sh*t… I’m not advocating violence, I’m saying if you become a victim of a crime it’s no ones fault but your own. Learn to protect yourself from these thugs. For whatever reason my daughter has decided to dwell in that cesspool of stench called Philadelphia I’ll never know,and believe me, I’ve lived in a lot of places and West Philly is a cesspool, but while she’s there she will protect herself with a gun! Just about 2 months ago, my daughter is walking down Market St. near 46th, this 12 year old thug pulls a airsoft toy bb gun and tries to hold her up for a cell phone, it’s a good thing she can ID a toy gun from a real gun and didn’t kill that stupid thug, a cop would have killed him dead in a split second, toy or not. Even the Supreme Court has said “Police have no obligation to protect anyone!” Violence can be used for good. I hope you never have to ID a loved one that couldn’t protect themself!
December 13th, 2012 at 5:00 pm
I hope the same. I also hope your daughter continues to not overreact to perceived threats. Taking a life is not something to speak lightly about on internet forums, and I’m fairly certain that she would not like to start her day by “empty”ing someone’s “cranial vault” as you so elegantly put it. My neighborhood is not a cesspool, and no one needs to be toting guns around just in case some kid tries to steal your iPhone. I hope your daughter takes good care of herself and the people around her and never, ever uses her gun. I also hope you can see that not everyone wants to have a tool designed solely to kill another person sitting in their purse.
December 13th, 2012 at 9:36 pm
It is amazing how folks who live outside the neighborhood obviously clearly have far superior judgement to those residing here and can thus objectively pronounce the area to be a cesspool. Happily us denizens of the cesspool are inured to such slander and happily the perception on the part of people such as Just9Numbers means we don’t have to worry about having them as neighbors!
December 13th, 2012 at 11:16 pm
Robert and Just9numbers deserve to have there comments down voted and removed from this thread.
December 13th, 2012 at 11:18 pm
When will this government, and our citizens, wise up and ban guns. Horrible and sad.
December 14th, 2012 at 12:09 am
Thank God I got out of the suburbs, which are full of angry basement-dwelling Philly.com trolls. The way to “protect yourself from thugs” is to travel light, dress down, keep your head up, and say hello to every person you pass. Humanize people. Works pretty well for me. Although I’m sure that in the expert view of someone who lives in a COMPLETELY DIFFERENT PLACE than I do, I’m naive.
December 14th, 2012 at 12:44 am
I’d pay good money to put just9numbers (who’s convinced that West Philly is a thug-ridden cesspool) in a ring with p (who is convinced that super-rich white Ivy League brats have taken over the neighborhood and are destroying it by way of gentrification) and see who wins in a bare-knuckle brawl. But only if we can have the fight officiated by pitbulls, amirite?
December 14th, 2012 at 8:44 am
Baby steps people, first step license guns like cars. price you’re not unstable and that you understand basic safety. I’d rather a full ban since I see little need for philly’s youth to have this level if access.
December 14th, 2012 at 9:25 am
The more I think about it, the more I believe that just9numbers should be seeking therapy for their violent fantasies about their own daughter murdering people before breakfast. It’s pretty disturbing. Also, if this daughter has the same sunny outlook on personal safety as her parent, I think it would only be fair to learn who she is so I can know who to avoid.
December 14th, 2012 at 9:43 am
Don’t feed the trolls, guys.
December 14th, 2012 at 9:48 am
Wow, this is terrible. I would hope these two are fairly easily caught since their faces are clearly on camera and the crime is on camera. Glad to hear the victims are in stable condition. The other victims are the terrified people on the platform and fellow passengers on the train and those of us reading the news this morning who live or have loved ones in the neighborhood. Such a stupid response to a fight about sports.
I hope more of us keep focused on improving the neighborhood and catching the criminals than inciting more violence.
December 14th, 2012 at 9:57 am
Do you think no one else on that train car had a gun? No one else on/near that platform was packing? I’d guess someone was. And what happened? 2 men were shot and the suspects got away.
So the argument that ‘if only someone else was armed this wouldn’t have happened!’ stuff seems invalid to me.
You think no one around Pres. Reagan had a gun the day he was shot? Really? Or Kennedy?
December 14th, 2012 at 10:02 am
@GunControl – I’m sure the gun used in this shooting was purchased legally and is registered to the gentleman who so kindly and calmly shot the people in the train.
Banning guns doesn’t remove them from the hands of those who have acquired them illegally.
December 14th, 2012 at 10:17 am
Glad to see they already have names for the suspects. Was it social media and the video that helped ID them? If so, kudos to local PD and West Philly Local for spreading the word so fast.
December 14th, 2012 at 10:38 am
@just9numbers last comments were deleted. We’re not going to solve gun violence on this thread and as we have seen in the past these arguments usually devolve into name calling and the like. Lets keep it productive.
December 14th, 2012 at 10:57 am
It always makes me so sad to see crimes like this perpetrated by young men, especially over something as trivial as an argument about sports. Gun control is obviously an issue, but what about education? If these kids were being taught critical thinking, how to solve problems, resolve conflicts, and be a citizen of a society (skills that they can apply in real life) rather than just how to pass a test maybe more of them would stay in school in the first place and this sort of senseless violence would be less frequent.
December 14th, 2012 at 11:40 am
Honestly, I feel safer in West Philly then I do in Center City sometimes. Fortunately, West Philly’s neighbors and citizens have worked REALLY hard to pick up the area, get more police surveillance, ect. Additionally, citizens in West Philly are always keeping an eye open for shady happenings where as I feel like other sections of the city that are considered “nicer” you end up becoming just another face in the crowd. I moved here several months ago and I’ve been really pleased with the supportive community. The reality is..it’s the Christmas season and we live in a major city. You’re never going to be a hundred percent safe no matter where you go, what weapon you carry or where you live. Everyone runs the risk everyday of getting hit by a car or having a heart-attack in the middle of the sidewalk so I think this whole mentality of being fear mongers just makes the city worse–if not divided. As far as the “cesspool,” I’m proud to live in the Wild West 🙂
December 17th, 2012 at 3:31 pm
Surprised the police haven’t caught these kids yet. (At which point can we call them Keystone cops? They’re not even twenty years old after all.) Even more surprised at the lack of updated reporting. Don’t believe me, g00gle it. Seems like they’re still trying to solve September’s subway shooting. Are Philadelphians’ memories that short?
December 17th, 2012 at 5:11 pm
They’ve been identified, but are still at large as far as I know. I’ve been checking here a few times a day for any updates as these little thugs live not far from me and have been known hang out on my block.
http://www.myfoxphilly.com/story/20346381/photos-released-of-suspects-wanted-for-septa-el-shooting
December 17th, 2012 at 5:14 pm
Oh wait… Hold the phone, they got one of them.
http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=news/local&id=8923326