PHILADELPHIA (ENN) - In something that Philadelphia homicide detectives say that they can't ever remembering happening before, four people were murdered in four separate incidents within four hours of one another on Saturday night and Sunday morning. The first homicide occurred at about 2240 EDT on Saturday. A 51-year-old male was shot once in the chest and killed as he got into his car in the 1000 block of East Slocum Street. A witness said that a car approached the victim and a shot was fired.
At about 2310 EDT, a 36-year-old male was found shot in the neck in the 3900 block of Dell Street. The victim died minutes later at Temple University Hospital, who had a very busy night. Few other facts are known in this case.
At 0240 EDT on Sunday, a man was beaten to death in a fight in the 400 block of West Cheltem Street. Police officers caught the 19-year-old offender as he was still kicking the victim.
A few minutes later, at the intersection of Cambria Street and Bonsall Avenue, a 26-year-old male was found shot in the head and chest. He died thirty minutes later at Temple University Hospital.
Philadelphia generally averages about one homicide per day. One police officer said that Sunday's four hour violent spree was unprecedented. Philadelphia Homicide Captain Patrick Dempsey said, "No one can remember that happening before. There is certainly no common denominator, except that four people are dead." Philadelphia, so far, has had 182 homicides in 1996. At the same time last year it had 175 murders.
And if those four murder cases weren't enough to keep homicide investigators busy, later in the afternoon -- the body of a woman in her 20s was found by children in a South Philadelphia schoolyard at 16th Street and Moore Street. The victim appeared to have her throat cut and was dumped in the yard in a bag.
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