Mayor Jim Kenney appeared to say he has never met with the family members of Philly homicide victims

Mayor Jim Kenney on Tuesday said he hadn’t held meetings with family members of any of Philadelphia’s more than 300 victims of homicide this year — an admission he reiterated several times at a news conference, only for his office to try to walk back the comments later in the afternoon.

“I have not spoken specifically to families. I’ve spoken to folks who were involved in — some of the officers involved in shootings,” Kenney said at a virtual news conference on the city’s gun violence crisis. “But I have not spoken individually to people. Sometimes the investigation is in the offing, and it’s difficult to interact with people when the investigation is going on. But no, I have not.”

Kenney continued: “I have spoken to people who have been victims of shootings, but as far as the homicides are concerned, I don’t know that it’s productive that I intercede while the investigation is going on.”

» READ MORE: After police are shot, Philly mayor says he’ll ‘be happy’ when he’s not mayor anymore

The mayor’s office, however, later clarified that Kenney this year in fact has met with some family members, including mothers of homicide victims that he met with through the Group Violence Intervention program.

Kenney’s comments come two weeks after he drew widespread criticism — including from City Council members who called for his resignation — for saying that he will “be happy when I’m not here, when I’m not mayor” due to the stress that he has been under as the city struggles to address the historic pace of shootings and homicides. Kenney’s second term ends in January 2024.

» READ MORE: 300 people have been killed in Philly homicides already this year

His comments Tuesday came in response to a reporter’s question on whether he has met with homicide victims’ relatives and what those meetings were like. After Kenney appeared to say he had not, another reported asked to clarify if he has ever met with any of the families of the 300 homicide victims this year.

“Not specifically,” he said. “I may have had conversations with them. There’s no specific meeting set up.”

The reporter then asked if that was typical during his tenure as mayor, which began in January 2016 and has seen more than 1,500 Philadelphians killed.

“I’ve never met with any families in almost seven years in that regard,” Kenney responded. “I’ve met with some children who have been shot — little babies who have been shot in crossfire — I’ve met with their families. But it’s not something that I’ve done from the time that I’ve started being mayor. I don’t know if any mayor has done that.”

In a statement Tuesday afternoon, Kenney added that responding to the “needs of victims of gun violence and their families” is “our top priority,” pointing to his administration’s establishment of the Office of Violence Prevention and the Office of the Victim Advocate, which assists with emergency relocations for witnesses, assists families with funeral cost reimbursements, and “connects victims and their families to community-based services to receive therapy and grief counseling.”

“My deepest condolences go out to the loved ones of all those affected by this senseless violence,” Kenney said in the statement. “While I have been in touch and our administration continues to engage with some families of loved ones who were injured or killed by violence, the vast majority of the trauma and intervention supports are offered by various City departments because we know that violence prevention starts with prevention and ends in healing.”

Staff writers Chris Palmer and Anna Orso contributed to this report.