A man was shot and killed in front of his home in West Philadelphia Tuesday night.
The 56-year-old victim was returning to his house on 41st Street and Westminster Avenue at 7:43 p.m. after shopping when an unidentified gunman opened fire. The man was struck once in the abdomen and once in the left leg. He was taken to Presbyterian Hospital where he later died from his injuries.
Police have not yet revealed a motive in the shooting but say the victim was the gunman’s intended target.
Three dozen Pennsylvania colleges will get nearly $1 million in grants to combat sex assaults on campus thanks to the "It’s on Us PA" campaign.
Gov. Tom Wolf announced the grants – up to $30,000 per school – Tuesday.
"Sexual assault has a corrosive effect on all of us," said Wolf in a news release. "My administration is committed to combating this urgent and serious epidemic, specifically on college campuses. I am proud to announce grants to Pennsylvania postsecondary institutions to increase awareness, education and resources to combat sexual assault."
Community colleges, junior colleges and four-year universities could apply for the grants to implement strategies of combating sexual assaults, said Wolf’s office.
"Pennsylvania’s 'It’s On Us' campaign is fostering discussions across the commonwealth about how we address the very serious issue of campus sexual assault," said Education Secretary Pedro Rivera. "These grant recipients will implement new approaches to tackling this issue, and will develop best practices that can potentially be replicated around the state."
Wolf’s Administration chose 36 schools – including Philadelphia-area colleges like Chestnut Hill College, Lincoln University, Drexel University, Temple University, Bucks County Community College, Eastern University and others – from more than 60 applicants.
A woman was sexually assaulted in a lot near an abandoned building in Camden, New Jersey, and the attacker remained on the loose, police said Wednesday.
The attack happened about 6:30 p.m. Sunday near the 900 block of South Third Street, police said. That's where officers found the woman, who said she'd been approached by a man in a white van.
The attacker then forced her to a nearby lot, where the rape occurred, she told police.
The attacker is described as a black or Hispanic male, 5 feet 3 inches to 5 feet 7 inches tall.
Anyone with information about the suspect is asked to call Camden police at (856) 757-7042.
The death of a boy whose body was found in the arms of a man and woman at a Philadelphia home has been ruled a homicide, according to sources.
A man and woman met officers in front of a home along E. Clementine Street near F Street in Philadelphia’s Kensington neighborhood around 11:50 p.m., said Philadelphia Police.
The duo held the unresponsive 2-year-old boy, identified by family members as Zy'Air Worrell, in their arms, said police.
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Police rushed the boy to St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children where doctors pronounced him dead a couple hours later.
"He don't deserve that," Worrell's godmother, Tasha Nikajewett, said while in tears. "He was just happy. He was a happy little baby."
Investigators initially said the boy's death was suspicious and that his injuries were consistent with abuse. Early Wednesday evening, sources told NBC10 the boy's death was ruled a homicide.
Police are currently interviewing the child's mother and her boyfriend but say they are being uncooperative in the investigation, according to sources.
This story is developing. Check back for updates.
SEPTA suspended service Wednesday afternoon on one of its Regional Rail lines after an Amtrak train struck and killed a person along the shared tracks.
An Amtrak train struck the trespasser around 1:30 p.m. near the Strafford Station in Wayne, Pennsylvania, said SEPTA.
SEPTA suggested using alternate routes for those taking the Paoli/Thorndale Line to or from Center City.
SEPTA service resumed just before 4 p.m.
Amtrak didn't immediately reveal the impact on its service.
Surveillance video captured a man entering a New Jersey restaurant and stealing money from a tip jar, said police.
Toms River Police responded to a call from the Royal Grill restaurant along Route 37 West in Toms River on Nov. 20. The restaurant’s manager said a man entered the store and removed about $100 from the tip jar near the cash register then fled in U-Haul truck with no license plate.
The Middle Eastern restaurant’s video surveillance system captured an image of the offender, said police.
Leads prompted a warrant for the arrest of 23-year-old Nicholas Mayer, of Toms River. On Tuesday, Mayer surrendered at police headquarters, police said.
He was processed and released on bail pending a future court date, said police.
Is the popularity of public pools in Montgomery County on the wane?
Some towns currently are weighing the future of a longtime staple in suburban America -- whether they are worth spending millions to renovate, leasing out to third-party managers, or shutting down completely.
In Towamencin, township officials initially proposed a 2017 budget that dried up funding for its pool. But public backlash has led the administration to consider leasing out the pool to a third party.
Another town, Cheltenham, will hold a special meeting Dec. 6 to get public feedback on the future of the Glenside and Conklin pools.
Those pools date to the late 1950s and a study last week concluded they “have reached a stage when significant capital investment will be necessary to modernize them and continue operations.”
Glenside and Conklin will be open for swimming in 2017, Cheltenham Manager Bryan Havir said, but beyond next summer the future is less certain.
Towamencin’s top official isn’t sure what has happened in recent years, but he said an exodus in membership has been under way since 2007. That year, Township Manager Rob Ford said, there were 1,962 pool members, and the pool was profitable. Membership has declined every year since, bottoming out at 955 this past summer.
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For decades, the pool paid for itself.
“That changed in the last several years,” Ford said. “The fees didn’t pay and we started to transfer money from the general fund.”
He said the first transfer in 2008 was $20,000. It grew to $115,000 in 2016, and Ford said the pool’s operating deficit would be the same in 2017.
In all, the pool has lost $563,000 in the last nine years.
“The costs haven’t gone up that much, but it’s the use of the pool that’s gone down,” Ford said Wednesday. “I don’t know if it’s a demographics thing, whether people using the pool isn’t what it used to be.”
Towamencin has promised to continue searching for a third party to lease the pool and operate it, including the YMCA, which in recent years has managed the facility, Ford said.
The problem is not so immediate in Cheltenham, but a longterm plan for the pools has yet to be determined, Havir said.
The meeting next week is the start to a long process of determining how much, if any, investment should be made to renovate Glenside and Conklin.
The current plan is to hire a consultant to come up with a master plan by March and then apply for grant money from the state to pay for improvements, Havir said.
“The Township has requested proposals from qualified firms to not only evaluate the pools’ current conditions, programs offered, maintenance and operation procedures, trends in pool services and facilities, and community needs but also lead discussions with the community about the best way to offer pool services in the future,” a notice on Cheltenham’s website reads.
