PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Authorities in Montgomery County have issued a warrant for the arrest of a Philadelphia man who is accused of shooting and killing a 31-year-old woman on Friday night at a gas station across from King of Prussia Mall.
Law enforcement is trying to find Rafiq Thompson, 38. He allegedly shot and killed Tamara Cornelius. The Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office said Thompson had previously dated her. Thompson faces counts of first and third-degree murder and related firearms charges.
The DA's office said Upper Merion Township police found her with gunshot wounds just before 10:30 p.m. in the parking lot of the Exxon gas station on Gulph Road just off of the I-76/202 interchange near the mall.
Mall surveillance video showed Cornelius and Thompson in the area of the Cheesecake Factory at about 9:10 p.m. Friday, according to investigators. They say that at about 9:45 p.m., Thompson left that part of the mall and headed toward the parking garage, and Cornelius did the same at about 10:15 p.m.
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Authorities cite gas station surveillance video which they say showed Thompson shoot Cornelius several times.
They also said that three witnesses who were in the parking lot all told detectives that they heard Cornelius and Thompson in an argument, and each heard at least five gunshots. One of the witnesses said Thompson walked by his car and yelled, “I don’t care if I go to jail.”
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Detectives said Thompson was driving a 2011 Nissan Maxima with Pennsylvania license plate LRF-5263. Philly police saw his vehicle in North Philadelphia about an hour later.
His vehicle was registered under an alias, Rafiek Muhamad. They said he also has been arrested while using that alias as well as those of Rafiek Muhammaad and Christopher Maxwell.
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He is not allowed to own a firearm due to what authorities said were previous convictions for aggravated assault and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
Authorities say Thompson is 5 feet, 7 inches tall, and weighs 167 pounds. Anyone with information about this case is asked to call police. He is considered to be armed and dangerous.
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