PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Three people are dead after a murder-suicide shook a quiet block in West Oak Lane, say police. Investigators believe a man shot and killed two next-door neighbors before turning a gun, fatally, on himself.
Around 4 p.m. Wednesday, police were notified of a shooting on Walnut Lane, near 74th Avenue in West Oak Lane.
Chief Inspector Scott Small said, according to witnesses, a man in his 50s confronted his next-door neighbors, a couple in their 70s, as they returned home from the grocery store. When they walked up their front steps to a porch area they shared with the man, he had a gun, said Small.
“Preliminary information is that the neighbor shot both of these two victims, the 77-year-old male, the 76-year-old female, and then shot himself,” said Small.
Police say the two men died at the scene, and the woman was taken to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
Hours after the incident, grocery bags and food items were still scattered on the sidewalk in front of the neighbors' homes.
Witnesses told police the man and the couple have had some ongoing verbal disputes.
“This is definitely a very, very tragic incident. Especially for the neighbors,” said Small.
Investigators recovered a gun, and they are interviewing witnesses.