Jonathan Bantum, a 31-year-old Black male from Philadelphia, was killed late on the morning of Thursday, November 23, 2023, in the West Oak Lane section of the city. Police were called around 11:49 a.m. to the 6700 block of Ogontz Avenue, where they found him lying in the doorway of the Ogontz Mini Market. He had been shot multiple times and was unresponsive when officers arrived.
The scene unfolded in the middle of the day at a neighborhood mini market, turning an ordinary Thanksgiving
morning into a homicide investigation. Officers did not wait for an ambulance; they placed Bantum into a patrol vehicle and rushed him to Jefferson-Einstein Hospital. Despite the emergency transport, he was pronounced dead shortly after arrival, with reports placing the time of death at about 11:58 a.m.
Bantum was identified as a Philadelphia resident who lived on Limekiln Pike. Publicly available reports describe the shooting as occurring at or near 6727 Ogontz Avenue, with Bantum found in the doorway of the store suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. The available accounts do not provide a detailed motive, the circumstances leading up to the gunfire, or whether Bantum was specifically targeted.
Philadelphia Police later marked the case as solved. A suspect was arrested on Thursday, December 21, 2023, nearly a month after Bantum’s death. The police case page states that the case outcome was pending trial, but the publicly available sources located did not identify the suspect by name or provide specific charges, court dates, trial results, or any conviction information.
