Man shot in head; group holds alleged gunman for police

A shooting early Sunday in Northeast Philadelphia ended with a group of men holding the suspected gunman for authorities, according to police and an area business owner.

Around 2:17 a.m., police were called to the 2700 block of Comly Road for a report of a shooting. Officers found a group of men holding a 25-year-old man they said had just shot a 28-year-old man in the head, according to a police news release.

The victim was taken to Aria Health's Torresdale campus in critical condition. Police released no other information on the case.

The owner of the Steve's Prince of Steaks location on that block, who asked that his name be withheld, said the shooting happened in the Planned Parenthood parking lot next door to his business.

Though he was not working at the time, the owner said, he heard that a group of men was beating up the 25-year-old, and that the man pulled a gun and subsequently fired a shot. The owner said he did not know the motive for the fight.

The owner said that although video surveillance from his establishment is dark, it appears that at least five men assaulted the 25-year-old before he pulled the gun. He said the shooting of the 28-year-old man took place out of view of his security cameras.

The group of men then held the alleged gunman until police arrived.

Nobody in his restaurant witnessed the events, the owner said. He added that he did not know whether any of the people involved had been in his establishment before the altercation.

"My manager last night said he didn't see anything happen inside our store," he said.

The owner said that the shooting victim was a friend of one of his former employees' and that he was a graduate of Archbishop Ryan High School.

When asked whether such violence was unusual for that area, which is just off of Roosevelt Boulevard, the owner said: "Any time someone is shot it's unusual."

"It's not friendly what's going, that's for sure," he said.

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