Philadelphia Muslim leaders ‘shocked’ as police seek suspect in fatal execution-style shooting in mosque parking lot

Police are searching for the gunman who they say killed a 43-year-old man in a targeted, “execution-type” shooting in the parking lot of a North Philadelphia mosque on Tuesday, as Islamic leaders decried the violence outside a place of worship.

Shortly before 5 p.m., Raheem Jefferson had just parked in the lot of Al-Aqsa Islamic Society, on the 1500 block of Germantown Avenue, and was walking toward the mosque for a prayer service when a man ran up behind him and fired at least 17 times from a large-caliber semiautomatic handgun, police said.

Jefferson was taken to Temple University Hospital with gunshot wounds to his head and upper body and pronounced dead minutes later, at 5:13 p.m.

The shooting was captured on surveillance video, and police said the footage shows that the gunman fired at Jefferson from behind, then stood over him after he collapsed and kept firing.

The shooter then got into a dark-colored sedan and fled the scene. A person who was with Jefferson at the time of the shooting was not hurt, police said.

The motive for the slaying was unclear, police said, and they were not certain whether the crime had any connection to religious bigotry, hatred or intolerance.

A neighbor who lives nearby and asked not to be identified for safety reasons said she had walked outside just moments before the shots rang out Tuesday afternoon. Although she thought the neighborhood was generally safe, she said, the gunfire left her feeling “rattled.”

The large parking lot of the mosque was empty Wednesday morning, save for a red Toyota Camry that had been struck by gunfire. A bullet hole could be seen in the front bumper of the car and a puddle of radiator fluid trailed from the front right passenger side of the vehicle.

Chalk circles marking where shell casings fell were visible in front of the parked car.

The shooting comes at a time of heightened concern in the Muslim community, as bias incidents have soared nationwide since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war. But the shooting does not appear to be a hate crime, said Marwan Kreidie, founder of the Arab American Development Corp., which has an office at the Al-Aqsa facility, which also includes a K-12 school.

Al-Aqsa’s congregation is predominantly made up of Arabic-speaking immigrants, he said.

It was not immediately clear whether the victim was known to members of the mosque, he said, adding that the shooting appeared to have been a targeted hit.

”Whatever it is, a house of worship should be immune to this kind of violence,” Kreidie said.

Another shooting rattled the Muslim community in April when three people were shot during an Eid al-Fitr celebration outside a West Philadelphia mosque.

The area around Al-Aqsa, just south of Kensington, used to see frequent shootings, Kreidie said. But in recent years, he said, gun violence has been rare around the brightly colored building on Germantown Avenue.

Ahmet Tekelioglu, executive director of Philadelphia’s chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said the Muslim community was “shocked” by the shooting, but said there was no evidence that it was motivated by religious bias.

“Whether this tragic shooting is related to the gun violence epidemic in our city or another reason, we call on our local leaders and interfaith groups to stand together to offer their support to the Al-Aqsa community,” he said.