Eight hours, six dead in Philadelphia

Violence in Philadelphia last night left five dead and an armed man wounded in a span of eight hours. Another death in a West Philadelphia hobo camp is under investigation as a possible homicide.

The first death was reported shortly before 6 p.m. in Northwest Philadelphia and ended at 1:15 a.m. in West Philadelphia. The victims were four men and two women, four died by gunfire, two from stabbings.

Mayor Nutter, at an unrelated City Hall press conference this morning, acknowledged that "last night was a bad night."

At the same time, he told a reporter, "If your question is, is this city safe, it is certainly safer than it has been, but we have work to do." Nutter noted that even with last night's killings, the overall homicide numbers are 20 percent lower than they were at this time last year.

The mayor also mentioned that two of the six deaths were the result of domestic disputes. "We can't put police officers obviously in people's homes."

The killing began near sundown.

As dusk began to fall around 5:30 yesterday, two armed men approached a car in Northwest Philadelphia and assassinated a 21-year-old man. Marvin Hudson was in the driver's seat of a green Buick parked on the 7800 block of Temple Road. Hudson was hit several times. He was pronounced dead at the scene, police said. There were three passengers in the car who escaped the gunfire on foot. Police do not have a motive.

Police in West Philadelphia found the body of a 29-year-old woman who had been stabbed multiple times in a third floor apartment on the 3800 block of Cambridge Street. Josephine Faust was pronounced dead at the scene at 5:40 p.m., police said. Investigators believe Faust may have known her killer and were looking for a "person of interest."

At 7:51, police were called to the 4800 block of Frankford Avenue for a report of a domestic disturbance. When they arrived they found Michelle Hicks, 36, lying outside on the street bleeding from multiple stab wounds to her torso. Hicks was rushed to Frankford Hospital where she was pronounced dead. Detectives arrested her boyfriend, Richard Smith, 26, and charged with her slaying, police said.

At 8:15, three narcotics officers spotted an armed robbery in progress near 53rd and Ludlow Streets in West Philadelphia. The stick-up man brandished a 9mm handgun. The three officers all opened fire on the gunman. The robber was taken to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania with non-life threatening injuries, police said.

At 10:30 p.m., a man's body was found at a makeshift campsite in Southwest Philadelphia. The body, which had begun to decompose, was spotted 30 feet from the road on 8100 block of Mario Lanza Boulevard. Police believe the man was white and in his mid-60s. There did not appear to be any visible signs of trauma. An autopsy is pending, police said.

Shortly after midnight, a shooting in South Philadelphia claimed the life of another man. Police found Kenneth Henderson, 19, on the 1600 block of S. 23rd Street dead of multiple gun shot wounds. Police have no suspects and no motive in the killing.

At 1:15 a.m., police were called to the 500 block of N. 35th Street in West Philadelphia. Ronald Saunders, 20, had been shot in the neck. He was pronounced dead at the scene.