Cops probe five slayings in the city
Police were investigating six shootings between Tuesday afternoon and yesterday that left five people dead and two injured, and put two suspects in one of the incidents behind bars, investigators said.
Police were investigating six shootings between Tuesday afternoon and yesterday that left five people dead and two injured, and put two suspects in one of the incidents behind bars, investigators said.
* The first shooting incident happened shortly after 4 p.m. Tuesday on Lawrence Street near Lehigh Avenue, in Kensington. Witnesses told police that they saw a man firing at a woman from a red Honda Civic being driven by a female. The victim, identified by police as Marta Martinez-Lozada, 37, of Hope Street near Cambria, was hit multiple times and pronounced dead soon after at Temple University Hospital.
Police said that they arrested Oscar Alvarado, 25, of Phillip Street near Ontario and his cousin Cynthia Alvarado, 28, of Thompson Street near Palethorp.
Police say that the motive for the killing was robbery, but that it was unclear what had been taken.
The cousins face charges of murder and related offenses in the slaying, police said.
* The second incident occurred Wednesday shortly before 1 p.m. on Bridge Street near Glenloch, in Frankford. Thomas Frederick, 49, of Granite Street near Glenloch was found with two gunshot wounds to the head in an alleyway on the block. Police had not identified any suspects or motive.
* At 10 p.m. Wednesday, a 38-year-old man was shot once in the right arm and once in the chest outside his house on Delancey Street near 63rd, in West Philadelphia, police said.
He was in stable condition at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.
Police knew of no suspects or motive.
* Shortly after midnight yesteday, a 30-year-old man was shot and killed on Paschall Avenue near 69th Street, in Southwest Philadelphia, police said. He was pronounced dead at the scene, and police knew of no suspects or motive.
* About 2 a.m. yesterday, one man was killed and another was critically injured in a shooting at 24th and Somerset streets, in Kensington, police said. A 30-year-old man was shot once in the back and was pronounced dead on the scene. Another 30-year-old man, shot once in the neck, was in critical condition at Temple University Hospital.
* And yesterday afternoon, two unidentified men were shot to death on Indiana Avenue near Mutter Street, in North Philadelphia. Police knew of no motive or suspects for that shooting.
Police were working yesterday to identify the victims of the last four shootings. *
Staff writer Dana DiFilippo contributed to this report.
