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Police say killing of recent Temple grad was ‘completely unprovoked,’ not a robbery

“Mr. Beauregard's life was cut short by this horrific act of violence and for no apparent reason whatsoever,” said Homicide Capt. Jason Smith.

Everett Beauregard, 23, was fatally shot in the Powelton section of Philadelphia in the early morning hours of Sept. 22.
Everett Beauregard, 23, was fatally shot in the Powelton section of Philadelphia in the early morning hours of Sept. 22.Read moreCourtesy of the Beauregard family

Philadelphia police said Friday they now believe the fatal shooting of a 23-year-old in West Philadelphia was “completely unprovoked,” and that the shooter did not interact with the victim before firing at his back.

“This was not a robbery attempt as we initially believed,” said Homicide Capt. Jason Smith.

Everett Beauregard had just exited a train at the 34th and Market SEPTA station around 12:30 a.m. Thursday, and was walking home after spending time with friends in South Philadelphia.

Meanwhile, police say, surveillance video shows a young man, with a gun concealed in his hoodie, had been walking around the area, near the 400 block of North 35th Street, for about an hour.

Video shows Beauregard walking past the suspect, who then suddenly turns around and fires multiple times at Beauregard’s back, striking him once in the back of the neck.

Beauregard fell to the ground, and the suspect ran away, firing one more shot as he fled.

Responding officers rushed Beauregard to Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, where he died a short time later.

“This wasn’t an argument between Mr. Beauregard and the offender,” Smith said at a news conference Friday. “Not a word was spoken between the two prior to the offender turning and shooting Mr. Beauregard in his back.”

Smith said Beauregard’s killing also was not gang- or drug-related, and “... by all accounts he was a good person going about his day living his life.”

Smith asked for the public’s help in identifying the suspect.

Beauregard, a Chester County native, had just graduated from Temple University in June, and was working for Wells Fargo Bank in Philadelphia. He planned to begin graduate school this winter.