Man killed, cars crash as gunman strafes auto
A West Philadelphia man was killed yesterday morning in a hail of bullets that struck his car as he drove in his neighborhood, police said.
A West Philadelphia man was killed yesterday morning in a hail of bullets that struck his car as he drove in his neighborhood, police said.
Dominic McRae, 28, was struck near his left ear and in his left leg when a man fired about a dozen rounds at McRae as he traveled west in his black Buick Lucerne on Catharine Street near 52nd at 9:53 a.m., police said.
McRae slumped over the steering wheel as his car careened into parked cars and came to a stop near 53rd.
The shooter fled on foot with another man, said police spokesman Lt. Frank Vanore. Both men were described as black and in their 20s; the shooter wore a red and white striped shirt; the other man wore a light shirt and jeans.
McRae, of 58th Street near Larchwood Avenue, was pronounced dead at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania at 10:09 a.m., Vanore said.
The shots caused a "chain reaction" of accidents as eastbound cars tried to avoid the gunfire, Vanore said.
One driver was hurt when she whipped her car across 52nd street, crashing into several parked cars near 52nd and Catharine.
She also was taken to HUP, where she was listed in stable condition, Vanore said.
Police offered no motive for the shooting.
Court records showed that McRae had served time in jail for drug possession and robbery.
Later in the day, shell casings littered the street as police taped off several bullet holes on the side of McRae's car, and family and friends gathered at the scene.
"It was so loud it sounded like an explosion," said Wilhelmina Speach, whose car was one of those hit in the resulting crashes.
She said that such violence was unusual on the block, which was typically quiet.
John R. Jones, 83, said that moments after he heard the gunshots, he heard a bang as McRae's car plowed into his parked 2005 burgundy Buick.
He told his wife that the car had been hit and to call 9-1-1.
"Thank God we weren't in it," he said.
Michael Morris said that McRae was his son's best friend.
"He was a nice young boy, he had a son, about 2 or 3," Morris said.
"He was his father and mother's only child."
McRae's family said that he had worked in food service at Temple University and was off for the summer following the conclusion of regular classes.
He had been driving to his father's house to pick up his two-year-old son, said McRae's father, Milton.
Milton McRae said that his son had been coming from his weekly physical therapy session, which he attended to fix injuries from a previous traffic accident.
Sharon Logan, a cousin, said, "I loved him dearly and I hope [they] catch whoever did this to him." *
