Drugs suspected in 2 slayings, bystander wounded in 3d shooting

Police believe drugs played a role in a pair of shootings that left two men dead Tuesday night in different parts of Philadelphia.

Joel Henderson, 28, of the 5000 block of Homestead Street, was shot three times and fatally wounded about 9:10 a.m. on the nearby 5000 block of Comly Street in the Wissinoming section of the Northeast, police said.

Police were seeking a silver Nissan sedan in which the shooter and two other men fled.

About 50 minutes later and on the other side of the city, Khalil Jackson, 22, was found dead from a gunshot wound to the head on the 6700 block of Buist Street in the Elmwood section of Southwest Philadelphia.

Jackson lived nearby on the 2600 block of South Massey Street, police said.

No arrests have been reported in either case, but investigators suspect drugs were involved in both.

A 21-year-old man in the meantime has been arrested and charged in a shooting that left a 19-year-old innocent bystander critically wounded in the Oxford Circle section of the Northeast Tuesday night.

Charged with aggravanated assault, criminal conspiracy and other offenses is Torrance Wright of the 3100 block of North 29th Street in North Philadelphia.

Police said the male victim was walking on the 1400 block of Steven Street when got caught in a gun battle between at least two men.

Hit in the leg, the man ran to a residence seeking sanctuary, but he was not allowed in, police said. Instead he waited on the steps until police arrived.

He was taken to Albert Einstein Medical Center, where, police said, he was in critical but stable condition this morning.