Wave Of Violence Sweeps Through Philly

Surf's up, Big Kahuna! PHILADELPHIA (CBS 3) ― At least three people were killed in several separate violent incidents throughout the city of Philadelphia this weekend. A 16-year-old was shot at 3rd and Mentor Streets in the Feltonville neighborhood of Philadelphia at 11:23 p.m. Saturday. He is listed is stable condition at Episcopal Hospital with a gunshot wound to his hand. A 23-year-old man was shot in the abdomen and is listed in critical condition at Temple Hospital after a shooting at 7th and Allegheny Streets in West Kensington shortly before midnight Saturday. Authorities recovered a gun believed to be used in the shooting and two males were taken into custody. One man died and another was injured after a double shooting in the Logan neighborhood early Sunday morning. Police said a 27-year-old man was shot in the face and transported to Albert Einstein Hospital where he was pronounced dead. Another 27-year-old man sustained a gunshot wound to the back and was taken to Albert Einstein Hospital were he is listed in critical condition. Also in Logan, in a separate incident, an elderly man was assaulted and killed by a female at a Sunoco gas station on the 5000 block of North Broad Street. Police said the woman beat the man in the head shortly after 4 a.m. Sunday. The female, who was still at the scene when police arrived, was taken into custody and has since been charged with murder. A man was transported to Frankford Torresdale Hospital and listed in stable condition after a shooting on the 3600 block of Decatur Street in Philadelphia's Holmesburg section. The 24-year-old was shot around 1:43 a.m. Sunday morning. Several people were injured after shooting at 4th and Snyder Streets around 2 a.m. in South Philadelphia. Authorities said the shooting stemmed from an altercation at McDaniels Bar at 2nd and Snyder Streets. Meanwhile, the other two men were transported to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. One man, in his mid 20s, was shot multiple times while another man, 25, was shot in the abdomen. Both are listed in critical condition and one of them is reportedly the son of a Philadelphia Police officer. Around 2:48 a.m. a 44-year-old man was shot multiple times on the 6800 block of Limekiln Pike in West Oak Lane. Authorities said the victim was pronounced dead on the scene. (H/T - CBS3) There's a reason I posted this story almost in its entirety. I posted it for Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey. You see, in the dead of winter (pun intended), Ramsey came on the TV and radio and claimed how he singlehandedly was lowering the murder rate, and stopping crime. Most pundits, myself included, said that homicide rates are always lower in the winter, and when the weather starts to get hot, you'll see a spike in killings. Well lookee, lookee. If we're not at 100 homicides yet, we're pretty damned close, and we're still in April. 2008 may not the the banner year for Philly homicides that 2006 was, but it's an arrogant statement to brag about low homicide rates in February!