PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) -- There were more protests in West Philadelphia on Tuesday night over the police shooting of Walter Wallace.
Groups of demonstrators gathered outside the 18th police district building. There were some clashes between officers and protesters.
About 10 miles away, on the other side of the city, it was a different story. KYW Newsradio was at the scene in Port Richmond on the Aramingo Avenue commercial corridor, where looters destroyed stores and ran away with whatever they could get their hands on.
Nothing was off limits. People filled cars, stolen shopping carts and their arms with alcohol, clothing and shoes. Someone was seen carrying away a small planted tree. Another rolled away a dolly with a washing machine on it.
Police arrived on the scene, but their presence did not seem to deter looters. One man yelled from the open door of his car, "We're going Christmas shopping."
Drivers dropped off friends, who ran into stores. Young people in masks were everywhere. Many store fronts were boarded up, but in some cases, it didn't really seem to matter. People got though the boarded-up doors to ransack the stores. It seems no shop across the Aramingo Avenue strip malls was unscathed.
Wednesday morning revealed a big mess up and down the avenue. Trash and glass was strewn across the street and parking lots. In front of the Ross anchoring the Imperial Plaza Shopping Center was a mess of hangers, baskets and carts, and the alarm was going off inside the store for no one to hear.
A cell phone store near Kensington Avenue and Allegheny Avenue was set on fire early Wednesday morning. The Walmart on Aramingo Avenue was hit hard. Water was gushing from a pipe somewhere in the store, and police were on scene early Wednesday arresting a man who was inside.
Most of the looting activity ended in the early morning hours. There were still some people out and about at dawn, including some rummaging through the debris.
Some businesses in Center City had boarded up their windows, anticipating a night of looting similar to what the violence in June following the killing of George Floyd. However, the area seemed to have been undisturbed overnight.