Authorities are trying to identify a man accused of killing two people and seriously injuring a third in a series of recent shootings in and around Hunting Park, the 87-acre green space located in the North Philadelphia neighborhood bearing the same name.
Police released photographs of the suspect Monday — surveillance images taken as he used the B, formerly known as the Board Street Line, to get to and from the park — in an effort to solicit tips from the public.
Sharef Holman, 29, died after he was shot just before 11 p.m. Friday, June 26, on the 1200 block of W. Hunting Park Avenue, law enforcement officials said.
About a week earlier, on June 20, police found 45-year-old Martin Higgins shot to death at around 10 p.m. by the baseball field near the 900 block of W. Hunting Park Avenue. Higgins was a graduate of Temple University and had worked as an inspector for the city’s Community Life Improvement Program, or CLIP, according to an obituary.
In both homicides, the victim was shot in the back, Deputy Police Commissioner Frank Vanore told reporters during a briefing Monday afternoon.
On May 29, a 55-year-old man was shot in his side and elbow at around 9:45 p.m. on the 1000 block of W. Lycoming Street, according to police. He told detectives that the gunman announced a robbery; at the time, a PPD account indicated that the victim pulled out his own licensed gun to defend himself.
Officers found the man lying on the street next to his car, Vanore said. He survived the shooting.
Investigators believe the same person — described as a man in his late teens or early 20s — is responsible for the violence in Hunting Park.
“This individual seems to be preying on people in that area,” Vanore said.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the PPD’s Homicide Unit at 215-686-3334 or call or text the tip line at 215-686-TIPS (8477).
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