‘Absolutely Evil’: 4 People Found Executed in West Philadelphia Basement, Say Police

At least four people were shot dead in a West Philadelphia basement on Nov. 19, according to local media reports.

The bodies were discovered at a home on the 5100 block of Malcolm Street after 12 p.m. local time, Fox29 reported. Two bodies and two men were discovered.

The victims had a single gunshot wound to the back of the head, police said.

Philadelphia Police Commissioner Richard Ross told CBS Philly: “All four of these individuals were executed.” He added it was an “absolutely evil thing to do.”

Two of the victims were identified only as a 31-year-old man and a 20-year-old woman. Their names haven’t yet been released. The other two victims were not identified and were described as a male between the age of 20 and 30 and a woman between the age of 30 and 40, according to the Fox affiliate report.

The home was under construction, and the bodies were discovered after a family member went to check on the home. The door was left ajar, police said.

Police told Fox29 they think the male victims are cousins who lived at the home.

Meanwhile, neighbors said they heard three bangs last night, but they thought it was renovations, so they didn’t call the police, the Fox report said.

No suspects have been identified. No weapons have been recovered.

Murder Rate Higher

The Associated Press reported that last year, the city had at least 314 murders, which is an increase of about 13 percent over the previous year. It was the highest in five years.

As of October 2018, the murder rate is continuing to increase. Local station 6ABC reported that as of October, 256 people have been killed in the city, which is 24 more murders than the same time last year.

Philadelphia Police Captain John Ryan told the station: “We did have a very violent August. We recorded 41 murders in August and there were 19 murders in August last year.”

Some noted the city’s drug problems, namely opioids.

John Appledorn of the Citizens Crime Commission told the outlet: “Territorial disputes and people that are on drugs. They gotta go out and start robbing people so you have all this violence, violence, violence.”

Philadelphia Police spokesman Sekou Kinebrew in 2017 blamed violence related to the opioid crisis. “With the increase in demand of these opioids, there’s also territorial battles,” he said. Neighborhoods where drugs are sold are the same places where the department is logging many of the killings, Kinebrew said, adding that crews “use violence means to accomplish their economics goals.” “It’s a very small minority committing most of the havoc,” he said.

“I don’t really think we have a clear sense yet of what could account for increase in deaths relative to trending downward of other crime,” said Jordan Hyatt, an assistant professor in the criminology and justice studies department at Drexel University in Philadelphia. He said opioid-related violence could be a reason for the jump but maintained that it’s too early to determine a cause.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.