3 homicide victims ID’d

Philadelphia police have released the names of the victims of three separate weekend homicides and announced an arrest in one of the fatal shootings.

The most recent slaying happened during a triple shooting shortly after 1:30 a.m. Sunday in the 2000 block of North Fourth Streetin North Philadelphia.

Pete Hopkins, 23, of the 1900 block of North Marshall Street, was shot in the chest, and pronounced dead at Temple University Hospital a few minutes before 2 a.m., police said. He lived less than a half-mile from the crime scene.

Two other young men, at first in critical condition, have been upgraded to stable condition at Temple. A 19-year-old, shot in the left arm and chest, was transferred after driving himself to Temple's Episcopal Hospital. A 24-year-old, who was shot twice in the groin, was trying to drive himself to a hospital, when he crashed at 11th and Norris Streets.

The arrest was from a Saturday morning shooting. About 9:44 a.m., a robbery turned deadly in the 300 block of Cumberland Drive in the Fairhill section of North Philadelphia.

Wilberto Santiago, 43, of the 2800 block of Leithgow Street, was shot multiple times, and was pronounced dead at Temple at 10:14 a.m.

Arrested was Peter Joe Albert, 42, of the 2900 block of North Marshall Street. The addresses of the men and the crime scene all lie within a half-mile of each other.

The third homicide happened shortly after 3 p.m. on Saturday afternoon in the 5600 block of Nelson in East Germantown.

Keenan Gaskins, 21, who lived around the corner, in the 900 block of East Woodlawn Avenue, died of a gunshot wound to the chest at 3:31 p.m. at Einstein Medical Center.

Police had no information about a motive or suspects.

Anyone with information about any of these cases is asked to call homicide detectives at 215-686-3334 or -3335, or the Police Department's anonymous tip line: 215-686-8477 (215-686-TIPS).

Contact staff writer Peter Mucha at 215-854-4342 or pmucha@phillynews.com.