PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Philadelphia police are investigating two different homicides — about a week apart — that they believe may be connected with a shooting-robbery late last month.
Described in his obituary as “kind and compassionate,” 45-year-old Martin Higgins worked for the city in the Community Life Improvement Program. But on Saturday, June 20, around 10 p.m., he was found dead in Hunting Park near a baseball field, shot in the back.
Then, about a week later, another man was found fatally shot in the back in the park, near 12th Street.
And last month, on May 29, a man in his 50s was shot in his side and found lying next to his car on Lycoming Street, just south of Hunting Park, but lived.
Deputy Commissioner Frank Vanore said the motive appears to be robbery in all cases.
“At least it does in the first case where we have a witness telling us he announced a robbery, but at this point, that’s our theory.”
He said the suspect uses SEPTA to get around.
“If someone does ride SEPTA at those times, around 10 at night, they may know this individual, know where this individual may live.”
Police believe the suspect is a man in his late teens or 20s with distinct tattoos on his wrists.
“All three incidents are perpetrated very similarly in the same geographic area, so we are believing that they are all connected and being done by the same person,” Vanore said.
