Mary Pitts-Devine (from Linked In)

Mary Pitts-Devine, a 46-year-old West Philadelphia woman, is beating the odds. She was shot eight times by her male neighbor earlier this month. The shooting happened on March 8 at a three-story twin home near 46th and Spruce Streets, where Pitts-Devine and her attacker, 53-year-old Steven Outlaw, lived.

Since the shooting, Pitts-Devine – a LaSalle grad, entrepreneur, social worker and cancer survivor –  has undergone several surgeries and will need many more. To offset the gigantic medical costs, her family started a fund in her name on GoFundMe.com.

Here’s what her brother, Eric Christopher, wrote on GoFundMe:

Mary Pitts-Devine with her brother Eric Christopher (from GoFundMe.com)

“Words can’t describe how I feel about my amazing sister Mary R Pitts. On Sunday, March 8, this wonderful woman of God was on her way to church when she was shot by a deranged gunman over 10 times! Eight bullets wounded her body. Two bullets struck her in the head one in the brain and one through the eye… Since March 8, Mary has gone through several operations to restore her body. She is making remarkable progress. Her road to recovery will be tedious and will include more extensive surgeries, substantial physical therapy, and professional counseling.”

Everyone who wants to contribute to the Mary R. Pitts-Devine fund and stay updated on the progress of her recovery, visit: www.gofundme.com/pg3s58

Mary Pitts-Devine. From Linked In.

The 46-year-old woman who was shot eight times Sunday morning by a neighbor who then shot himself remains in “very critical condition” at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, according to police.

Police say that Mary Pitts-Devine had an ongoing dispute with her male neighbor, identified in media reports as 53-year-old Steven Outlaw. They lived in separate apartments at 4530 Spruce Street in a three-story converted twin. Outlaw reportedly lived above Pitts-Devine, an entrepreneur, writer and former social worker.

The dispute culminated in Sunday’s shooting. Police recovered a handgun in Outlaw’s apartment that was registered to him.

Pitts-Devine, a 1997 graduate of LaSalle University, is the CEO and Founder of Prophetic Presentations, an artistic production company that is “speaking to the hearts of mankind via the arts,” according to its website. On the site, she writes that she has “a desire to help those trapped in the social ills of life, such as drug addiction, homelessness, disparity of all kinds, and severe family dysfunction. This burden stemmed from my brokenness I experienced as a child growing up in Foster Care.” On social media platforms, she writes that she is a breast cancer survivor and a kidney transplant recipient.

Neighbors have said that the dispute between her and Outlaw had been ongoing for about two years and that he had accused her of tapping his telephone line.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to the friends and family of Ms. Pitts-Devine. We’ll update with new information when we get it.

– Mike Lyons

UPDATE (8:40 p.m.): The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that there was a history of tension between the man, who lived on the third floor of the three-story building, and the woman, who lived below him on the second floor. The man reportedly confronted the woman in the first floor hallway shortly before 11 a.m. and shot at her 10 times (she was struck eight times). After that he went to his apartment and shot himself.

UPDATE (4:52 p.m.): Police are now reporting that the shooting stemmed from a neighbor dispute over noise. The woman remains in critical condition.

UPDATE (1:10 p.m.): The female victim, 46, was reportedly shot eight times. She and the man who shot her and himself – he is in his 40’s – were taken to the hospital in critical condition. The man died a short time later from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, NBC10 reports.

UPDATE (12:20 p.m.): It appears to be an attempted murder-suicide, according to police. Police say that the woman was shot by the man, who then shot and killed himself. The woman is still alive.

UPDATE (11:43 a.m.): A male victim was brought out from a three-story twin home at 4530-32 Spruce Street on a stretcher, and CPR was being administered (pictured). He was put in an ambulance.

A woman was reportedly shot late Sunday morning on the 4500 block of Spruce Street. The shooting happened around 11:10 a.m. She was rushed to the hospital with unknown injuries. The block is currently closed to traffic. Stay tuned for more information.

Philippe Holland

The 20-year-old pizza deliveryman who was shot several times last April by plain-clothes cops who thought he was trying to run them over near 51st and Willows in the Cedar Park neighborhood is suing the city.

The officers reportedly approached Philippe Holland, who had just finished a delivery, on the sidewalk with their guns drawn. They were searching for a suspect in an earlier shooting. Holland contends that 18th District officers Mitchell Farrell and Kevin Hanvey approached him as he was getting into his car and that he thought they were robbers. Farrell and Hanvey opened fire as he tried to drive away. Holland was struck in the head, neck and leg.

Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey apologized to Holland soon after the shooting. West Philly residents raised money for Holland’s medical expenses and more than 100 signed a petition asking that the results of the investigation be made public. It was hoped that the shooting might prompt more transparency in police shootings, which spiked in 2012 and prompted Ramsey to request a federal review of the department.

One result has been the posting of some information from officer-involved shootings online.

Here is what the posting on that site says about the Holland case:

PS#14-15

04/22/14 On Tuesday, April 22, 2014, at approximately 9:56 P.M., two on-duty officers in an unmarked vehicle and in civilian attire heard gunshots in the area of 51st street and Baltimore Avenue. While surveying the area, the officers observed a male walking south on 51st street toward Willows Avenue, with his hands inside his pockets. The officers identified themselves as police officers and ordered the male to stop. The offender opened and entered the front passenger door of a Ford Taurus that was parked in the 5100 block of Willows Avenue. The offender positioned himself in the driver’s seat and drove the vehicle initially in reverse, and then forward toward the officers. In response, both officers discharged their firearms, striking the offender. The offender was transported to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania for treatment. There were no other injuries as a result of this incident. No weapon was recovered.

– Mike Lyons

A 26-year-old man was shot and killed in front of a residence on the 5600 block of Baltimore Avenue on Thursday night, according to police. The shooting was reported at around 9 p.m. The victim was found on the front porch, a few houses down from where he lived, with gunshot wounds to his head and chest. He was taken to the hospital where he was pronounced dead 15 minutes later.

Police say there is one suspect, a male, who was last seen heading eastbound on Baltimore Avenue. The description is vague.

Police are investigating a shooting outside of Cousin Danny’s Exotic Haven & Lounge at 52nd and Delancey, which left one person dead and two wounded. The shooting happened shortly after midnight on Sunday. One of the victims, a 25-year-old man, was shot multiple times and was taken to the hospital in critical condition. He died of his wounds several hours later. The second victim, a 47-year-old man, was shot in both legs and was listed in stable condition on Sunday. The man told police that he was walking on the 5200 block of Delancey when he heard the gunshots and was struck twice. He was able to walk after being shot and flagged down police nearby.

The third victim, a 24-year-old man, was found at Mercy Hospital where he walked after being shot once in his right leg.

Currently, the details of what led to the shooting are not available as the investigation continues.