Nearly 300 people braved the cold to chant peaceful messages in support of Philadelphia law enforcement Friday night in the city's Mayfair section.
Community members, officers and family of police officers gathered at Frankford and Cottman aves for one purpose -- to peacefully show support for their brothers and sisters in blue.
"... All these cops are helping us and protecting us from all the bad things that are happening," said one of the youngest supporters, Lea Newman.
Organizers, who insist that Philadelphia Police Department was in no way associated with the rally, pulled the event together late this week and took to Facebook to get the word out.
On the page, they emphazed the importance of keeping the rally peaceful -- with its sole purpose to show Philadelphia Police that Philadelphians are behind them.
"Any negative signs of people causing any kind of disturbance will be asked to leave," said organizers.
The rally follows much unrest in Philadelphia as well as the rest of the country following protests against police after decisions in favor of law enforcement in the Eric Garner chokehold death and the death of Michael Brown.
It also follows a police-involved shooting Monday in Mayfair. Brandon Tate-Brown was shot and killed along the 6600 block of Frankford Ave., after he allegedly reached for a loaded handgun -- stolen last year -- during a traffic stop.
Family maintains that Tate-Brown, who had served five years in prison for aggravated assault, was trying to get his life back on track by being a "good guy."
The rally had nothing to do with Tate-Brown's shooting, said head organizer Donald Garvey.
"We decided to do this because we feel like officers are being unfairly judged in light of what's happening nationally," said Garvey.
"Policemen are not saints, they're men and women that go to work everyday and try to do their jon and do the best they can," said supporter Brian Trait.
A man died early Saturday morning after he was shot in his face, back and groin in the city's Nicetown neighborhood.
The shooting happened near the intersection of 16th and West Cayuga streets around 3 a.m., police said.
The 22-year-old unidentified victim was rushed to Temple University Hospital, but he succumbed to his injuries, officials said.
He was pronounced dead at 3:35 a.m., authorities said.
No arrests have been made. An investigation is underway.
Police arrested a bar owner who they said shot a woman early Saturday morning in a West Philly bar.
The owner of the 601 Bar, located at the corner of 56th Street and Wyalusing Avenue, shot the woman just before 3 a.m., investigators said.
The victim suffered a graze wound to her leg and is in stable condition, according to officials.
Authorities said they also recovered the gun used in the shooting. They did not disclose a possible motive.
The bar owner has yet to be charged for the shooting. An investigation is underway.
A man and his nephew caught a burglar in the act early Saturday morning in Northeast Philly, leading to a physical altercation that left the suspect dead.
Police responded to a home on the 6100 block of Vandike Street, near the intersection of Torresdale Avenue and Benner Street, in the Wissinoming section of Philadelphia around 2 a.m. to find a 23-year-old man dead, according to officials.
Officers initially arrived on scene after receiving reports that a suspect was attempting to steal tools from a a garage on the home's property, according to investigators.
The resident heard the suspect, and he and his nephew confronted him, police said.
The pair began fighting the burglar, who sustained a head injury during the altercation, authorities said.
The suspect was pronounced dead at the scene at 2:07 a.m.
No charges have been filed as investigators continue to sort out what happened.
Stay with NBC10 for more on this developing story.
A shooter opened fire on a man, killing him in Philly's Kensington neighborhood late Friday night.
The unidentified victim, who appears to be in his 20s, was shot in the face, chest, groin, back and hand along the 3100 block of Hartville Street, near Allegheny Avenue, around 9:45 p.m., according to officials.
Police rushed the man to Temple University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 10:01 p.m., authorities said.
The motive in the deadly shooting is unknown. Investigators said the suspect was wearing a white skull cap and was last seen running northbound on Hartville Street.
Dozens of children, along with their parents, are set to gather along busy City Avenue Saturday morning to stage a die-in protest to draw attention to the deaths of unarmed black men at the hands of police.
"We have to begin to dialogue with our children at an early age about social injustices in our world," read a flyer passed out by organizers early Saturday morning. "Today's primary goal is to show the world that our children's lives do matter!"
The public die-in is one of several protests happening locally, including one scheduled at the King of Prussia Mall Saturday afternoon, and nationwide following the police officer-involved deaths of Eric Garner and Michael Brown.
The group of nearly 200 children, along with their chaperones, will start marching along City Avenue near Monument Road around 9:20 a.m., according to organizers.
The kids will lay on the ground, as their parents remain standing with their hands in the air, starting at 9:55 a.m.
Some of the children participating are as young as 8-years-old.
Dozens of runners participated in a 5K run in Philadelphia's Manayunk neighborhood Saturday morning to help return attention to Shane Montgomery, who went missing early Thanksgiving morning after a night out with friends.
The event kicked off at 9 a.m. outside the Goals Fit location at 4450 Main St. in Philly's Manayunk neighborhood.
Donations were accepted for the Help Find Shane Montgomery fund and participants were encouraged to wear green in honor of the missing 21-year-old West Chester University student.
The Roxborough native was last seen leaving Kildare's Irish Pub -- only a short walk from the race start -- more than three weeks ago.
Each day without Shane has been wearing on his family, who are working to hire the Garden State Underwater Recovery Unit, a volunteer diving recovery team, to aid with the underwater search, said Kevin Verbrugghe, Shane's uncle.
"We’re not holding up well," Verbrugghe said.
Ongoing search efforts, including the use of sonar and underwriter cameras in a search of the Schuylkill River, have brought about few clues for Shane, who was last seen walking toward the Manayunk Canal.
"The prevailing theory is that he went into the river and where is he now? Tides change and there’s all kinds of debris under there," FBI Supervisory Special agent J.J. Klaver said Thursday.
Debris could have trapped the missing college student's body underwater, he explained.
A reward for information that leads investigators and the family to Montgomery still stands at $65,000. Friends and family continue to support the search efforts on their own as well.
Anyone with information is asked to call Philadelphia police at 215.686.TIPS.
Wilmington police are investigating a fatal shooting that claimed the life of a 43-year-old man.
Police say officers were dispatched to the 700 block of Vandever Avenue in Wilmington on Friday night after receiving reports of a shooting.
Police say when the officers arrived they discovered a man, identified as Derrick Caudle of Wilmington, suffering from a gunshot wound to the abdomen. Caudle was taken to the hospital where he died of his injuries early Saturday.
Police say no suspects have been identified, and are investigating the incident.
A veteran New Jersey Transit bus driver who struck and killed a man in Passaic while driving recklessly last year has been sentenced to three years of probation.
The Record reports that Catherine Collier, of Passaic, said at her sentencing Friday that she didn't mean to kill 49-year-old Joseph Currier. He had just gotten off Collier's bus in September 2013 and was struck in a crosswalk after she ran a red light.
Passaic County prosecutors say Collier sped up at an intersection as the traffic light was turning from yellow to red and ran the red light before hitting Currier.
The 67-year-old pleaded guilty to fourth-degree assault-by-auto.
Collier had faced up to 10 years in prison. She worked for NJ Transit for 25 years.
Twenty-eight are Republicans, five are Democrats. Six are women. And once they're sworn in next month, all of them will get a vote in the Pennsylvania Legislature.
The newest class of freshmen lawmakers, including three House members who made it to the Senate, have not had much opportunity to bask in their recent victories as they spent time picking caucus leaders, setting up offices and navigating their way around the Capitol. And, oh yeah, figuring out what to do about that enormous state budget deficit.
They bring new blood and tend toward idealism, but can also fall back on shopworn campaign clichés.
"I think you get up to speed on the issues as quickly as you can," said Tedd Nesbit, a Republican taking a Mercer County seat in the House. "And you try to rein in the costs of doing business in Pennsylvania. It's going to be a difficult task to get the priorities in line with the revenues we currently have."
Mike Driscoll said he got the sense during a get-to-know-each-other dinner for freshman at a Harrisburg hotel that most were eager to get things done.
"We're not naive coming in, we know there's a $2 billion budget deficit," said Driscoll, a Philadelphia Democrat elected to a House seat. "We're hoping for better revenues, the economy is getting a little better -- we hope. But we also recognize we're in a hole."
The crushing burden of the state's public-sector pension plans, an issue that has haunted policymakers for more than a decade, is at the top of many of their minds. Some said they would support moving new hires into a 401(k)-type program, or a hybrid of that and the existing pension, but those sorts of changes won't do much to address the billions in new costs the plans will require in the coming years.
"As far as finding the new revenue, I confess, it's going to be a very tough path," said Republican Brett Miller, a public school guidance counselor from Lancaster County. "Just to take more and more money out of the taxpayers is not the answer."
Judy Ward, a nurse from Blair County, said liquor privatization could be part of the solution.
"I mean, it's a one-time fix but it could help," said Ward, a Republican.
Many of the new members said they will be watching the new governor, Democrat Tom Wolf, to see what kind of leadership he offers amid strong Republican majorities in both chambers (30-20 in the Senate, 119-84 in the House).
"I think at the end of the day, Gov. Wolf is going to have the issues he likes and the issues he needs," said Peter Schweyer, a Lehigh County Democrat and former legislative aide.
Wolf backs an extraction tax on natural gas in the Marcellus shale formation, a debate that could end up bringing changes to the existing impact fee. Camera Bartolotta, a Republican who ousted Sen. Tim Solobay in Washington County, said she won't let that money disappear without a fight.
"That is vital, absolutely critical to my district, especially," Bartolotta said. "If we lose the impact fee we'll never see it again."
Cris Dush, a Republican elected to succeed retiring House Speaker Sam Smith in Jefferson County, said he wants to improve the business climate and make the state's electrical supply more reliable by creating Pennsylvania's own grid system. He also wants to bolster the Legislature's oversight role by granting it subpoena power.
"Right now we have members of the administration and other branches of the government that have no accountability, when they can turn around and say, 'Well, I'm just not going to show up,'" said Dush, a retired prison guard.
The plight of the very poor in her Philadelphia House district is at the top of Democratic representative-elect Leslie Acosta's mind, including better schools and economic development.
"The power structure right now is a difficult environment coming in, bottom line," Acosta said. "There's going to have to be some negotiation, some flexibility in order to get an agenda forward."
Pat Stefano, a Republican who flipped an open seat southeast of Pittsburgh, said lower business taxes and a better business climate are among his priorities, but he's also determined to find common ground with Democrats.
"Right now I'm in a learning phase," Stefano said. "I'm going to pick up the philosophy (from) the campaign: God gave you two ears and one mouth. Use them in proportion."
Authorities say a 33-year-old Englewood woman has been indicted after they say she sexually abused a 5-year-old boy.
The Record reports that Roxanne Hewitt was indicted by a grand jury in Hackensack on Thursday in the April incident.
She was charged with two counts of first-degree aggravated sexual assault, second-degree aggravated sexual assault and endangering the welfare of the child.
It wasn't immediately clear if she had an attorney.
The newspaper reports that the victim's mother reported in April that her son had been sexually assaulted. The relationship between Hewitt and the victim wasn't known.
Authorities have released the name of a man who died following a fire at a western Pennsylvania apartment complex.
The Washington County coroner's office said 66-year-old James Springer was pronounced dead about an hour after the blaze was reported at his residence in Washington, Pennsylvania.
Officials said the fire was reported at about 8:40 p.m. Friday at the Washington Arbor Apartments.
Police officer Michael Cain told The (Washington) Observer-Reporter that smoke was so thick on the fifth floor that emergency workers couldn't see more than a foot.
Officials said police and firefighters carried some of the residents on the sixth through ninth floors down the steps on their backs.
An autopsy is planned to determine the cause and manner of Springer's death. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
