Philadelphia police are asking for the public’s help in finding 21-year-old Jahylin Melchur, the man they say shot three men in the Hunting Park neighborhood over four weeks, killing two of them. Law enforcement is still looking for the suspect and has asked the public to help, but not to approach him. He is armed and dangerous, according to police. They believe that the victims may have been targeted because of their sexuality, though investigators say robbery also remains a possible motive. As of the printing of this paper, Melchur is still at large and considered armed and dangerous.

The manhunt unfolds against a backdrop of statistics that show declining violence. A city once branded “Killadelphia,” which recorded a record 562 homicides in 2021, has watched killings fall to historic lows. Yet for the families of the men gunned down near Hunting Park,  and for all co-victims of homicide, the statistics are blurred by the funerals they will attend.

Deputy Police Commissioner Frank Vanore led a press conference where he stated that the first shooting happened at about 9:50 p.m. on May 29 on the 1000 block of West Lycoming Street, where officers found a 55-year-old man lying in the street beside his car with gunshot wounds to his side and elbow. The man survived and told police his attacker walked up, announced a robbery, and opened fire.

On Saturday, June 20, just after 10 p.m., officers found 45-year-old Martin Higgins suffering from several gunshot wounds to his back near a baseball field along the 900 block of West Hunting Park Avenue. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Six days later, on Friday, June 26, police were called to the 1200 block of West Hunting Park Avenue at about 10:55 p.m., where they found 29-year-old Sharef Holman with a gunshot wound to his back. He died at a nearby hospital. Police believe that the shooter was taking public transportation around 10 p.m. to leave the crime scene. 

Vanore said the three shootings, carried out in strikingly similar fashion within blocks of one another, are now believed to be the work of a single gunman, who investigators think may be riding SEPTA’s Broad Street Line to and from the area.

The violence cuts against the trend in the surrounding 25th Police District, where Captain Stephen Bennis reports homicides are down 38 percent. “It is a downward trend that we want to continue through the summer and to finish out the rest of the year,” Bennis said.

Many, including Bennis, credit the City’s increased services for youth and families through the Targeted Community Investment Grants and other anti-violence funding. It is a view shared well beyond his district: District Attorney Larry Krasner and other officials have tied the citywide decline to violence-prevention spending, grassroots interruption work, and summer programming that gives young people somewhere to go.

City Councilmember Quetcy Lozada said she is glad to see crime numbers moving in the right direction in the 24th and 25th Districts, “but we cannot take that progress for granted, especially in neighborhoods that have experienced too much gun violence.” She supports increased patrols around pools, recreation centers, business corridors, and hotspots, but added that enforcement is only one piece: “The larger goal is prevention, safety, and ensuring our young people have places to go, people to turn to, and positive things to do.”

For Santa, a Hunting Park neighbor who did not want to reveal her full name, the fear lands close to home. “My children go to the park and to the pool. A lot of improvement and care go into keeping our park nice for our children. I am very upset that these men were killed. I hope they catch the guy who did that.” Anyone with information is asked to call the Homicide Unit at 215-686-3334 or submit an anonymous tip to the department’s Tip Line at 215-686-TIPS (8477).