PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — An elementary school teacher was shot and killed in the parking lot of a busy Montgomery County shopping center Tuesday morning. The Montgomery County district attorney says it was a targeted shooting.
Cheltenham Township police say they found the body of Rachel King, 35, of Elkins Park, in the driver’s seat of her vehicle at the Melrose Shopping Center on Cheltenham Avenue. She was dead from multiple gunshot wounds.
King’s 11-year-old son was found in the back seat. He was not injured.
Police said her vehicle was found resting against the median of a parking island near the Dunkin’ drive-thru. There were two bullet holes in the driver’s side window inches above the door handle.
A joint investigation of Cheltenham Township Police and Montgomery County Detectives has so far determined that King was driving a black Ford Edge westbound on Cheltenham Avenue, when she turned into the shopping center and got into the Dunkin’ drive-thru lane.
Based on witness interviews and surveillance video, police say a light-colored sedan, possibly a Ford or Mercury, that was driving directly behind King, parked nearby. A man got out of the car, walked up to King’s driver’s side, and fired several shots through the window before driving away. Police say he took off eastbound on Cheltenham Avenue.
“This appears to be a targeted murder of a mother,” Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele said.
He said the shooter did not try to open the door of King’s vehicle — “nor did he appear to communicate with her prior to shooting her numerous times through her driver’s side window.”
Cheltenham resident Francis Po was going to stop by to get coffee and was shocked to roll up to a crime scene.
“The fact that it happened in the morning — it’s actually ridiculous. It’s crazy. People are ruthless nowadays,” he said.
Police say the shooter is thin and was wearing light-colored pants and a dark-colored sweatshirt with a hood covering his head.
Detectives are asking for the public’s help identifying the shooter or his car. Tips can be called in to Cheltenham Township Police Department at 215-885-1600 (ext. 400) or Montgomery County Detectives at 610-226-5553. Tips can also be called into the Montco Detective Tip Line at 610-278-DOIT (3648).
Anonymous text tips can be submitted using MontcoCrimeTips on the free STOPit! app, available for download for iPhone or Android. Use code MONTCOPA to get the Montgomery County version of the app.
King was a teacher at Grover Cleveland Mastery Charter School for 10 years. The school released a statement on Tuesday:
“This morning, a teacher from Mastery’s Grover Cleveland Elementary was the victim of a fatal shooting in Philadelphia. We send our deepest condolences to her family and loved ones. We are devastated by the loss of an extraordinary teacher, who spent the last 10 years working with our students and their families. Tomorrow, Cleveland Elementary School will have a 2-hour delayed opening and social workers and counselors will continue to be available for those seeking additional support as we grieve the loss of another member of our Mastery community.”