Police are investigating an apparent double murder and suicide involving neighbors in West Oak Lane
A 77-year-old man and 76-year-old woman were fatally shot, allegedly by their next-door neighbor who then shot himself, police said.
An elderly man and woman who apparently were returning home from grocery shopping were shot and killed, allegedly by a next-door neighbor who then fatally shot himself late Wednesday afternoon in the city’s West Oak Lane section, police said.
Just before 4 p.m., police and medics responded to 911 calls about a shooting on the 7300 block of East Walnut Lane and found a 77-year-old man and 76-year-old woman with gunshot wounds lying on the steps in front of their rowhouse, said Chief Inspector Scott Small.
The man was pronounced dead at the scene, but the woman was still alive and was transported by police to Jefferson Einstein Philadelphia Hospital, where she was pronounced dead, Small said. It was not immediately clear if the man and woman were married or in a relationship or were just living together.
An unidentified man in his 50s or 60s also was found dead on the steps with what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, Small said.
Police found five spent shell casings and a semiautomatic handgun next to the bodies of the men, Small said.
Residents in the neighborhood told police there had been some past disputes between the man and woman and their neighbor, but what prompted the shooting on Wednesday was not immediately known, Small said.
At the scene, there also were several spilled bags of groceries, and police were told that the pair had just parked, apparently returning from a shopping trip, Small said.