On a Tuesday evening in Philadelphia, the life of 27-year-old Shaquira McCottry, an African American woman and a soldier in the Pennsylvania Army National Guard, was tragically cut short. On November 10, 2020, while visiting family in the neighborhood where she grew up, McCottry was ambushed on the 1300 block of West Wishart Street. At approximately 11:06 p.m., two unidentified gunmen approached her as she was walking and opened fire, striking her with multiple gunshots before fleeing the scene
on foot.
Philadelphia Police officers responded to the sound of gunfire and discovered McCottry lying in the street. They rushed her to Temple University Hospital, but she succumbed to her injuries that night. Investigators at the scene recovered 22 spent shell casings, some just inches from where she lay, indicating the brutal, close-range nature of the attack. Surveillance footage released by the police showed the moments two individuals ran up to her and began shooting.
McCottry was remembered by loved ones as a beautiful person and a role model who had graduated from Girard College in 2011 and played basketball and soccer for Manor College and Cedar Crest College. She was visiting from Atlanta, where she was stationed, when she was killed. Her death stunned the community, with friends and family struggling to understand why she would be targeted.
The Philadelphia Police Department offered a $20,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction in the case. The investigation progressed, and on May 5, 2021, two suspects were taken into custody in connection with her murder. While the case is now considered solved, the outcomes for the two individuals arrested are pending trial.
