Man, 43, shot to death at playground

Updated at 8:45 a.m. Tuesday

A SUN-SOAKED afternoon at an East Germantown playground turned bloody Monday after gunfire erupted, leaving a 43-year-old neighborhood man dying on the pavement.

Cops were called to a shooting at the Belfield Recreation Center, 21st and Conlyn streets, just after 5:30 p.m., Chief Inspector Scott Small said. Officers found the victim bleeding from wounds to his face, head, neck, chest and arm between a jungle gym and an empty pool outside the rec center.

The victim, indentified as Troy Dixon, who lived on the block, was pronounced dead at the scene at 5:37 p.m., cops said.

Several children, teens and young adults were at the playground at the time of the shooting, Small said.

At least one witness was taken to be interviewed by homicide detectives, he said, adding that police found no surveillance footage of the area.

Nine .40-caliber shell casings littered the playground, and investigators said the victim had 14 entrance and exit wounds throughout his body. Police said they believe the shooter stood over the victim and fired several rounds.

Small said the playground is a drug location familiar to police, but cops were unsure whether drugs had sparked the violence.

Relatives - who said the victim used the nickname "Triz" - peered through the black wrought-iron bars surrounding the playground while homicide detectives investigated.

D.J. Johnson, 30, who identified himself as a cousin, described the victim as a hardworking barber and father of three children.

The man grew up in the neighborhood, Johnson said.

"It's really got to stop," Johnson told reporters. "The violence has got to stop."

The victim's daughter wept at the scene, but said she was too upset to talk about her father.

"There's really nothing you can say. He was a good man in my eyes. I'm very angry," said a woman who identified herself as a relative.

Neighborhood kids hoisted each other from the sidewalk to catch a glimpse of the bloodstained white sheet covering the man's body in the middle of the playground, and residents looked on as cops swept the scene.

Many residents lamented the violence that gripped the city before sundown on one of the first warm days of the season.

"It's crazy. Look, the kids play right there," said a mother who lives nearby but did not want to be identified. "It's sad. I'm going to keep the kids in the house from now on."

A passer-by, who said he doesn't live in the area but spends time there often, echoed her sentiment.

"It's happening all over the city. It's genocide against ourselves," he said, shaking his head.

"Look at it right there, another young life gone."

Contact Morgan Zalot at 215-854-5928 or zalotm@phillynews.com, or follow on Twitter @morganzalot. Read her blog, "Philly Confidential" at www.phillyconfidential.com.