Man, 39, critically wounded in Kensington shooting

A 39-year-old man is in critical condition after police say he was shot in the back in Kensington early Thursday night.

Cops were called to Reach Street just south of Allegheny Avenue around 5 p.m. and found the victim, suffering from a gunshot wound to the back and through his chest, in the driver's seat of a minivan that had crashed into a rowhouse on the block, according to Chief Inspector Scott Small.

He was taken to Temple University Hospital, where he remained in critical condition around 7:30 p.m.

Small said cops didn't find any shell casings, bullet holes or other ballistic evidence of the shooting at the scene, and they were unsure whether the man was inside the car when he was shot or standing outside. It was unclear Thursday, police said, what motivated the shooting, but witnesses were being interviewed by detectives.

Small said a surveillance camera outside a store at Reach Street and Allegheny Avenue captured a white Crown Victoria that may have been involved in the shooting leaving the scene around the time it happened. Cops were looking for that car Thursday night.

Anyone with information in this shooting should contact East Detectives at 215-686-3243, call the police tip line at 215-686-TIPS (8477), text a tip to PPD TIP (773847) or submit a tip online.