‘A terrible crisis’: Krasner discusses Philly’s gun violence after officer’s son gunned down

The son of a Philadelphia police officer was shot and killed early Monday morning in North Philadelphia, the 38th homicide already this month and one reflecting “a terrible crisis” for the city, District Attorney Larry Krasner said.

The 23-year-old man, whom police identified as Hyram Hill, was shot in the 1400 block of West Allegheny Avenue at 4:38 a.m. in what appeared to be a robbery. Paramedics rushed him to nearby Temple University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 5:01 a.m.

Hill had been shot multiple times in his left chest, right arm, abdomen and back, police said Monday afternoon. In the morning, Joanne Pescatore, Krasner’s newly appointed supervisor of the Homicide and Non-Fatal Shooting Unit, said he had been shot nine times.

She said he had been home from school, but she did not know where he was a student.

The new homicide count of 38 for the month was two more than at the same time last year.

“This is a slight increase from terrible to terrible,” Krasner said. “That’s where we are with homicides. This is truly a terrible crisis that we are suffering through.”

The district attorney said the gun-violence toll ― which accounted for the majority of 562 homicides last year, a record ― has convinced him that his office should focus on such violent crimes rather than lesser crimes such as prostitution and marijuana possession.

“This office believes that reform is necessary to focus on the most serious and most violent crime, so that people can be properly held accountable for doing things that are violent, that are vicious, and that tear apart society,” he said. “We cannot continue to waste resources and time on things that matter less than the truly terrible crisis that we are facing.”

Krasner also cited the attempted shooting of several police officers in Mayfair last week. In that case, Tajan Durham, 28, is being held on more than $2 million bail.

Durham has been charged with six counts of attempted murder and six counts of aggravated assault on officers involving a handgun, said Assistant District Attorney David Osborne.

Police said Durham led them on a high-speed pursuit and fired a gun at officers after he jumped out of the car he was driving. Durham was apprehended after he tossed a semiautomatic handgun onto the roof of an OfficeMax on Roosevelt Boulevard near Cottman Avenue and then tried to hide under a car, prosecutors said.

During a search of the black Jeep that Durham was driving, police recovered another handgun, bullets, and a bulletproof vest, prosecutors said. Durham’s past record includes a conviction for a gunpoint robbery in Montgomery County in 2017, Osborne said.

“This is terrible crime. Thank God none of these officers were hit after he fired upon them repeatedly,” Krasner said. “And frankly, he’s a fortunate man that he wasn’t shot to death on the street. Because given his conduct, it almost certainly would have been justified.”

Correction: A previous version of this story misstated the number of homicides so far in 2022.