Man killed after withdrawing $400 from Germantown bank ATM

Just after 8 p.m. Thursday, James Watson stopped by the Citizens Bank branch on Germantown Avenue near the corner of Chelten Avenue to withdraw money from the ATM for his granddaughter. Her broken foot prevented her from running the errand, his heartbroken great-grandson said Friday.

Watson, 69, didn’t leave the bank’s vestibule alive. There, he was confronted by two younger men wearing hoodies, skull caps, and face masks. After a brief argument, one of the men fired a handgun at Watson, grazing his chest and piercing his abdomen, police said.

Police officers found Watson on the vestibule floor, where medics pronounced him dead at 8:17 p.m.

Although the two fled without taking the $400 Watson had just withdrawn, police believe their motive was robbery, said Philadelphia Homicide Capt. James Smith, who noted that two $20 bills and a handful of quarters were found under Watson’s body, while his wallet contained two $100 bills and eight $20 bills.

“It looks like they went to rob him and they exchanged words,” he said. “They tried to rob an old head and the old head said, ‘You’re not robbing me,’ and they shot him.”

A witness told police both suspects were about 5 feet 6 inches tall and that the gunman’s weapon appeared to be a .32-caliber handgun, Smith said. On Friday, police were gathering video evidence from the bank vestibule as well as from two city-owned real-time crime cameras mounted at the intersections of Germantown and Chelten Avenues and Chelten Avenue and Greene Street, Smith said.

The camera mounted at Germantown and Chelten captured the suspects running from the scene, he said. The video evidence will help investigators learn how the men got into the vestibule while Watson was inside the locked ATM area, he said.

Tymir Alston-Haywood, 15, said his great-grandfather’s last act of withdrawing money for his injured granddaughter, who is Alston-Haywood’s mother, was in keeping with his character.

“He was a very positive, very charming guy. Very lovable. Everybody liked him,” Alston-Haywood, who attends Community Academy of Philadelphia Charter School, said while standing in the front yard of the Germantown home where Watson lived with him and other family members.

Alston-Haywood said his great-grandfather taught him how to work on cars and how to drive, which is why if he does not become a professional athlete, he could see himself becoming a mechanic.

“He did everything for us here. He has tools to fix anything that needs fixing. He’s inspired me,” he said.

Alston-Haywood, the only member of his family able to talk about Watson’s death, said the crime is difficult to process.

“I’m confused. I just want to know why. Did they want to rob him or anybody? Why rob someone that old? No matter what the age, nobody deserves to go through something like that,” he said.

“I just want to know why did they shoot him. Did he not comply? He was an old man, he wouldn’t have fought back,” said Alston-Haywood, who added that Watson had three daughters, more than 10 grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren.

By late Friday morning, the bank’s doors remained locked, turning away a steady stream of customers — many of whom said they had not heard about the shooting.

“I’m not coming up here no more because the area is not safe. Not good, not good,” said Joclyn Phillips, 64, who paid a hack cabbie $25 to drive her to the bank from her Olney home. The Citizens Bank branch in her community closed last year, she said.

Police asked anyone with information about the shooting to contact the Homicide Unit at 215-686-3334 or leave an anonymous tip at 215-686-TIPS.