Philadelphia police are on the lookout for a suspect who broke into an apartment in Overbrook Park, Philadelphia, on Sunday, May 17, and terrorized two women. While one of the women was raped, the other was shot after she woke up hearing her roommate's screams.
Police are asking for the public's help in identifying the suspect, who was captured on video, dressed in black and carrying a gun on his hip before he forced open the door of the house located in the 7400 block of Brockton Road shortly after 5 a.m. on Sunday, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Before the attack, the suspect was caught on Ring cameras installed by the residents as well as CCTV cameras belonging to the city as he opened a car door and rummaged through the vehicles before attempting to unlock other cars in the neighborhood. The man can be seen wearing black clothing, gloves and white sneakers with stripes.
One Woman Shot, Another Raped
Police say after rummaging through the cars, he broke into a basement apartment and began sexually assaulting a 21-year-old woman who lives there, WPVI-TV reported. When she screamed, her 23-year-old roommate came rushing into the room. The roommate confronted the offender and told him to take what he wanted and leave. At that point, she was shot in the stomach.
Both women were rushed to Lankenau Medical Center, where the shooting victim remains in critical condition, according to Capt. Mark Burgmann of the Special Victims Unit.
Police Unable to Identify Suspect
Although plenty of forensic evidence has been recovered from the apartment, investigators have not yet been able to ID the suspect and are reaching out to the community for help and have released the video footage in a bid to gather more information. Burgmann added that the man is to be considered armed and dangerous.
"I think he's a pretty dangerous individual to break into somebody's house, rape somebody, then shoot somebody," he said, before advising residents to keep their doors and windows unlocked, and even use dead bolts if they have them "because as you can see, this gentleman is out prowling around at night, looking for anywhere he can get in."
