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

As was announced last month, Radio Shack is closing as many as 24,000 stores nationwide due to bankruptcy, and Sprint stores will replace most of them. Both West Philly ‘Shack stores, at 212 S. 40th St and 309 S. 48th St, are on the closing list, too. Both stores are currently trying to empty their shelves by holding huge sales. This is bad news for Radio Shack but potentially good news for you.

The 40th St ‘Shack has already been reportedly “picked clean.” We guess, due to its proximity to Penn’s campus.

The 48th St ‘Shack is currently holding a 50-70 percent off sale, according to an employee we talked to. The person we spoke to was not sure though about when the store is closing.

Maybe you could get yourself one of these:

The bankruptcy sale at Radio Shack is out of control, I just bought this for $50. pic.twitter.com/DEicjxFRFv

— Bobby Digital (@a_butler) March 8, 2015

The 48th St Radio Shack is open Mon – Fri 10:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m., Sat 9:30 a.m. – 8:00 p.m., Sun 11:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.

A tribute to Robert Wilson III painted by a fellow officer of the 18th Police District.

Most of you have probably heard the tragic news about the murder of Philadelphia police officer Robert Wilson III during an attempted robbery last week. Wilson, a 30-year-old father of two boys aged 9 and 1, who served in the 22nd Police District in North Philadelphia, was a long-time West Philadelphia resident, and his sister and grandmother also live here, according to various media reports.

Wilson lived in a rowhouse near 55th and Locust. A West Philadelphia High School graduate, he walked his dog in the neighborhood and neighbors often saw him tinkering with his motorcycle, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported. Neighbors also admired how he raised his boys, who stayed with him on weekends and holidays.

Wilson died in a shoot-out with two gunmen inside a GameStop in North Philly. Police arrested and charged two brothers, 30-year-old Carlton Hipps and 26-year-old Ramone Williams, in connection with the shooting and Wilson’s murder.

Here is a video of Wilson’s grandmother Constance Wilson and sister Shakira Wilson-Burroughs speaking to NBC10’s Monique Braxton inside their West Philly home about their grandson and brother’s life and legacy:

 
Our deepest condolences to Officer Wilson’s family, friends and colleagues.

UPDATE (9:45 p.m.): According to latest reports, three houses on S. St. Bernard Street were affected by tonight’s fire. Two of them were unoccupied. Red Cross is assisting two adult residents of the third house damaged by the fire.

A large fire broke out on S. St. Bernard Street near Kingsessing on Sunday evening, around 6 p.m. At least four houses were affected, according to reports. Multiple fire trucks arrived at the scene, and the fire was put out about 20-25 minutes later. No injuries were reported. No more details are available at this time.

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.

Body-art fans will be happy to learn about a new business coming to Cedar Park. Spirited Tattooing Coalition (Facebook page) will be opening at 49th and Baltimore Ave next week. Shop owner and tattoo artist Jasmine Morrell said she set out to open the shop as the first openly queer and a person of color to open a business like this in the city of Philadelphia.

“I wanted to be able to create a healthy and safe environment around tattooing people’s bodies and dismantle the abrasive and sometimes harsh environment that comes with the industry standard,” said Morrell.

The mission is to create a safe space where the staff will be trained in tolerance and inclusiveness to battle sexism, racism and homophobia that has been present in the tattooing industry. She completed her apprenticeship in 2004 and has been tattooing ever since. With a little over 10 years of experience, she felt ready to have her own space.

Jasmine Morrell (photo by Sarah Mackenzie).

“The industry is dominated by one type of person, it tends to be very male-white-centric. When there are women in the industry or the shop, it’s almost like they’re being commodified and not being valued as a person. I mean that’s a lot of industries. But I think American tattooed culture is bred as this American tough guy attitude. The reality is that it’s an art form, it stems from a different culture that does not relate to that,” said Morrell.

Spirited Tattooing Coalition began a month-long IndieGoGo crowdfunding campaign in November, but only hit a little over one-third of the fundraising goal. “I’m a first time business owner and it’s definitely scary but I’ve had so much support though, it doesn’t feel like I’m doing it completely alone,” Morrell said.

Spirited Tattooing Coalition is located at 4918 Baltimore Ave. The space was previously occupied by the A.M.S. International Market, which closed in June, but has since been transformed into a different type of retail space. The space above will remain a residential apartment space. The current space will not only run as a tattoo shop but also a fine arts gallery, with portion of the floor dedicated to being consignment goods.

Friday, March 13th will mark the official Grand Opening – the shop will be open from noon-9 p.m. Regular business hours will resume the following day: Monday-Saturday noon-9 p.m. The shop will be closed Sunday.

– Rana Fayez