In the late afternoon of a Thursday in North Philadelphia, a burst of gunfire shattered the day's calm. On June 1, 2017, at approximately 4:38 p.m., police officers on foot patrol near the 2400 block of Cecil B. Moore Avenue heard the gunshots erupt. They discovered 31-year-old Anthony Lewis in front of a grocery store, having been shot multiple times.
The slain man was a Black male who lived about a block from where he was gunned down.
Officers rushed Anthony Lewis to Hahnemann University Hospital, but his wounds to the neck, chest, back, and arms proved to be fatal. He was pronounced dead at 5:48 p.m. Back at the scene of the shooting, investigators recovered nine spent shell casings, evidence of the violence that had unfolded.
In the aftermath of the shooting, homicide detectives began their search for suspects and a motive for the killing. Authorities sought to review surveillance footage from the surrounding area in hopes of identifying the assailant. As of the day after the incident, no arrests had been made, and the reason for the shooting remained unknown. The case remains unsolved, and the Philadelphia Police Department continues to seek information from the community to bring closure to the case.
