Five more slayings raise
city’s murder total to 220

By William Kenny
Times Staff Writer

A 15-year-old Tacony boy was among at least five people killed in four separate shootings from Thursday afternoon into Friday morning, raising Philadelphia’s murder total to 220 for the year.
Timothy Clark and a man described by police as a family friend were attacked on the 6900 block of Vandike St., one block from Clark’s home, just before 2:30 a.m. on Friday, minutes after visiting a nearby convenience store, said Philadelphia homicide Capt. Michael Costello.
Clark and Damien Holloway, 27, who was staying with Clark’s family, were each shot once in the head. Clark died at the scene. Holloway was taken to Frankford Hospital-Torresdale in critical condition. He died there on Sunday.
Investigators have no suspects and no motive in the case, Costello said. The victims left the 7-Eleven at Torresdale Avenue and Disston Street together at about 2:15 a.m. and were filmed by the store’s surveillance video equipment.
Six minutes later, police were called to the dark, narrow block around the corner where both lay wounded on the sidewalk. Police are unaware of any disputes that may have precipitated the violence, Costello said.
No weapon was recovered. Investigators found no shell casings on the ground, indicating that a revolver may have been used. They believe three shots were fired but have found no eyewitnesses.
"We still don’t know what we’re dealing with in this case," Costello said.
Religious candles, stuffed animals and flowers on Friday afternoon marked the spot where Clark and Holloway fell. One block away, neighbors and friends of the deceased congregated outside Clark’s home, where a portrait of him was placed on a fence and an autographed football lay on the sidewalk.
According to those who knew Clark, he loved to play football.
"He played football in the street with everybody," said neighbor James Buchanan. "Sometimes they had ten or fifteen kids on the block. And, of course, they (also played) basketball."
Neighbors would park around the block to give Clark and his pals plenty of room to operate, said Buchanan, who described Clark as a sociable youth.
"I knew him all his life. I knew him when he was born," Buchanan said. "He was always outgoing."
Clark’s former next-door neighbor and best friend, Frankie Weaver, 16, said that Clark stayed out of trouble.
"He was a good person. He just kept to himself and never bothered anybody," Weaver said.
Clark was mainly home-schooled though he was enrolled at Abraham Lincoln High for a spell, Weaver said. He lived with his mother and two older brothers.
Clark and Holloway worked together mowing lawns in the area. When Holloway found himself without a place to stay, Clark’s family offered him a spot, said Weaver, who also would stay at his friend’s house a lot.
Buchanan can’t believe that he didn’t hear the shots, as he was awake at the time and had just taken his trash to the curb.
On Thursday at about 4:30 p.m., one man was killed and another wounded by gunfire on the 1800 block of S. Sixth St. Police think that an ongoing conflict between groups of people precipitated the violence. Investigators say they have a "strong lead" on a suspect, Costello said.
At about 8 p.m. that night, one man was shot dead and another wounded in a "somewhat lengthy gunfight" near 68th and Spruce streets, Costello said. An earlier fight at the location escalated with at least two and possibly three people drawing guns and firing them.
Just after 1 a.m. on Friday, a barroom argument on the 6200 block of Limekiln Pike ended up outside with two brothers shot, including one fatally, Costello said.
In addition to the five deaths in that 10-hour span, the Thursday death of a victim of a June 17 shooting raised the city’s annual homicide total about 15 above the year-to-date total from last year, Costello said.
The 2006 total was the city’s highest in almost a decade.