A 16-year-old is connected to four homicides, including a man shot outside a Philly jail, police say

Officials apprehended the teenager after highlighting his alleged crimes during the city's first biweekly gun violence briefing.

Philadelphia police on Wednesday said investigators have connected a 16-year-old to four homicides since December.Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer

by Anna Orso

Published April 28, 2021, 5:59 p.m. ET

Philadelphia police have arrested a 16-year-old who they say is connected to four killings since December, including the fatal shooting of man who was gunned down after his release from a city jail last month.

Ameen Hurst, of Philadelphia, faces murder and related charges in connection with two shooting incidents: a Christmas Eve killing in Overbrook and a quadruple shooting in West Philadelphia on March 11 that left two men dead. Police said charges are also expected to be filed against him this week in connection with the shooting death of Rodney Hargrove, 20, near the front gates of the Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility in the middle of the night on March 18.

Just a day before the incident outside the jail, officials had publicly named Hurst as a person of interest in the Christmas Eve killing of 20-year-old Dyewou Nyshawn Scruggs, who was streaming live on social media when he was shot.

In none of the cases did police offer a possible motive for the shootings.

The briefing was the first in a series of biweekly news conferences that activists had pressed Mayor Jim Kenney’s administration to hold amid surging violence.

Deputy Commissioner Benjamin Naish said this week that at the time of the briefing, police had also connected Hurst to the March 11 shooting of four people in a parked vehicle on the 1400 block of N. 76th St. Two of the victims, 24-year-old Naquan Smith and 17-year-old Tamir Brown, died of their injuries.

Three days after the news conference, police received a tip that was “instrumental” in apprehending Hurst, Naish said Wednesday. Police first arrested him on March 20 and he was charged with murder.

Naish said ballistics evidence later led investigators to believe Hurst is “at least one of the people responsible” for killing Hargrove, who appears to have been “a tragic victim of mistaken identity.” Hargrove, of West Oak Lane, had been incarcerated for a week on theft and related charges, and was released on bail around 1 a.m. before he was shot.

Hurst’s attorney did not respond to a call seeking comment.

Hurst was denied bail and is being held at the Riverside Correctional Facility. He is scheduled to appear for a preliminary hearing on May 10.