UPDATE (7/22/2015, 11:30 a.m.): More details are in on Tuesday night’s shooting near 46th and Market. Police say a gunman fired at least six shots at a group of people walking down the steps on the north side of Market Street near the El stop. Police followed a trail of blood from the shooting scene to the nearby Westpark Apartments complex. Two females, ages 16 and 19, and a 17-year-old male were shot in their legs and feet and were taken to the hospital. The 19-year-old woman was with two young children, who were not injured in the shooting, according to reports. Police said the gunman was in a black sedan. No physical description of the shooter was available.

One of the victims told police that the shooting stemmed from an ongoing dispute between people who frequent or live in the Westpark Apartments complex near 46th and Market who call themselves the “Jet Boys” and a group from near 51st and Parrish who call themselves the “Pit Boys,” according to a police report.

7/21/2015, 11:32 p.m.: Police are reporting that three people, two females and one male, were shot Tuesday night shortly before 11 p.m. near 46th and Market. The victims were taken to the hospital with leg wounds, according to police. Stay tuned for more information.

Jasmine Wright

A Healing For The Community service followed by a candlelight vigil for 27-year-old Jasmine Wright, the woman found dead in her 50th Street apartment last week, will take place tonight, from 7 – 8 p.m. at Monumental Baptist Church, 4948 Locust St.

Wright, who received her master’s degree at Drexel University’s School of Public Health a few weeks ago, was found beaten and strangled in her apartment on the 200 block of S. 50th Street, police said. Her body was found last Thursday afternoon in a bedroom of her third floor apartment after her father had tried to reach her by phone and finally asked the property manager to check on her. Police said she may have been dead for 24 hours. There were no signs of forced entry into the apartment, which made police believe that Jasmine may have known her attacker.

On Saturday, police were questioning a person of interest, reportedly a handyman who had access to Jasmine’s home. No arrests have been made yet.

Originally from New York City, Wright received her bachelor’s degree at Pennsylvania State University. She had lived in West Philly for about two years while she was attending Drexel’s graduate program. Her neighbors described her as a quiet and sweet girl, who mostly kept to herself. Her friends remember her as a funny and caring woman.

Jasmine Wright (Facebook photo).

UPDATE (7/17/2015): Police have identified the victim as 27-year-old Jasmine Wright. Wright’s body was found with head and neck injuries, and she appeared to have been beaten and strangled. The Philadelphia Inquirer reporters spoke to Wright’s neighbors who described her as a quiet, sweet and beautiful girl who mostly stayed by herself. According to Wright’s Facebook page, she graduated from Drexel University School of Public Health last month.

The investigation continues.

(7/16/2015, 7:15 p.m.): A 27-year-old woman was found dead Thursday afternoon in her apartment on the 200 block of S. 50th Street, according to various reports. The woman was reportedly beaten and strangled. She lived alone in the apartment. She was pronounced dead on the scene at around 2:35 p.m., police told The Philadelphia Inquirer. According to police, the woman was found by the property manager of her apartment building after her father had tried calling her for several days. Police found no sign of break in, and nothing was taken from the apartment.

Police released more information on the robbery and assault that took place on Monday night, shortly after 10 p.m., near 45th and Osage Ave. A 23-year-old man was walking in the area and noticed a group of five young males walking on the other side of the street. The males ran up to the young man, punched him, knocked him to the ground and continued punching him repeatedly. They ran away when a car pulled over to help. The attackers took the victim’s cell phone, according to police.

The young man, a Spruce Hill resident, suffered a chipped tooth and other injuries. The investigation continues.

UPDATE (Monday, June 29, 10:15 a.m.): It appears that the shooting was not random, according to police, who said that the victim was involved in criminal activity. “200[th block of] S. St Bernard just looks like where he decided to do a deal that led to this,” said a police source.

UPDATE (11:25 p.m.): A man is in critical condition after he was shot inside a car he was driving on the 200 block of S. Saint Bernard Street, according to police. The car was going northbound on S. St Bernard when an unknown male exited from an alley and fired one or two shots in its direction, a woman who was a passenger in the car told police. The driver was shot in his left arm, but continued driving until he crashed the vehicle at 51st and Locust. He was taken to Presbyterian Hospital, according to police.

Police said earlier that the shooting took place on Sunday night, around 9:45 p.m.. West Philly Local readers reported heavy police presence near 49th and Spruce Streets and 51st and Locust.

The owner of a Baltimore Avenue business was attacked overnight in an attempted gunpoint robbery, according to police. The attack took place around 12:30 a.m. on Friday when 65-year-old Thomas Lee, owner of One Stop Fresh Deli at the corner of 49th and Baltimore, was taking out the trash behind the store and was approached by an unknown young male who pointed a gun at his head and demanded money.

The man also tried to push his way into the back door of the store, according to a police report, but Lee resisted and tried to fight him off. A struggle ensued with both men rolling on the ground, which drew attention from passersby, according to police. The attacker fled without taking anything. Lee sustained minor injuries in the attack, police said. The description of the suspect is very vague.  Continue Reading