Weekend shootings bring '09 death toll to 12

A police-involved shooting yesterday afternoon, which left one man dead, was one of four homicides this weekend - bringing the city's 2009 homicide tally to 12.

Officers responding to a call concerning a domestic dispute about 1:15 p.m. yesterday at Lawndale Street near Comly, in the Northeast, were met by by a combative man who appeared to be under the influence of an unknown intoxicant, police spokesman Lt. Frank Vanore said.

The man who was involved in the initial domestic dispute that brought police to the residence engaged officers in a struggle, according to Vanore.

In the course of the struggle, the man - whom police declined to identify last night - grabbed for an officer's baton and got a knife from the home, Vanore said.

An officer fired one shot, striking the man in the chest, Vanore said. The man was pronounced dead at the scene by responding paramedics, according to police.

Earlier yesterday, shortly before 1 a.m., 30-year-old Rodney Smith was killed during a home invasion at his house on 42nd Street near Fairmount Avenue in West Philadelphia, homicide Sgt. Bob Wilkins said.

Several men - it was not immediately clear how many - broke into Smith's home demanding money, according to Wilkins.

The intruders tied Smith's hands and led him to the basement, where they shot him once in the head, said Officer Tanya Little, a police spokeswoman.

One or more other residents of the home, including Smith's girlfriend, managed to escape uninjured, Little said. Neither Little nor Wilkins could say how many victims were present during the invasion.

Smith was pronounced dead at the scene at 1:04 a.m. No arrests have been made in the case.

In an unrelated double shooting about 2 a.m. Saturday on A Street near Westmoreland, Angel Padilla, 25, of 3rd Street near Huntingdon, was shot once in the neck, Little said.

Padilla was able to run around the corner to Ella Street and Westmoreland before he collapsed. He was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.

A second victim, a 21-year-old man, was shot in both arms. He was taken to Temple University Hospital in stable condition and has since been released, Little said.

Wilkins said both men appeared to be victims and that the the incident was sparked by an argument with a third man, whom police are still seeking.

Police are also seeking the man who killed 51-year-old Michael Lane about 9:10 p.m. Friday, although they already know the suspect's identity.

Lane was found with a single gunshot wound to the head on Page Street near 31st, Little said. He was taken to Temple where he was pronounced dead at 9:46 p.m.

The shooting was sparked by an argument with another man, according to Wilkins.

That man has been identified by police and a warrant has been issued for his arrest, but Wilkins declined to release the suspect's name last night. *