50-Year-Old Father of Three Killed In West Philly Home Invasion
UPDATE: Father of 3 shot in Southwest Philadelphia home invasion has died http://t.co/ycTQo5QxXu pic.twitter.com/FuqqbNjXSY
— Action News on 6abc (@6abc) October 13, 2015
On Monday night at 11:12 p.m., the Philadelphia Police Department responded to a report of a shooting inside a house on the 1100 block of South Ruby Street in West Philadelphia. When they arrived at the home, police found 50-year-old Tony Harris shot in the head. He died at Presbyterian Hospital on Tuesday morning, and now police are searching for his killers.
According to Philadelphia Homicide Captain James Clark, Harris was home with his wife and their three children — ages 5, 2 and 10 months — when three black males entered the house through an unlocked front door. The children were upstairs asleep, and Harris and his wife, Amber Crane, were on the first floor.
Police say that one gunman took Crane into the kitchen, while Harris was kept separate in another area. Clark said that there was a gun to both of their heads and that the intruders kept demanding “the money.” During the incident, which lasted a matter of minutes, Harris was shot in the head. The men fled in an unknown direction.
“We don’t believe they got away with anything,” Clark said on Tuesday afternoon at a news conference. “We don’t believe there was any money.”
Investigators say that Harris recently posted a photo on social media depicting his wife holding a large amount of money — and say that this photo is part of their ongoing investigation.
“My brother is gone, but he’s in my heart,” wrote Harris’ brother, Kenneth, on Facebook. “And these fucking idiots better pray they never run across me. You killed my brother, but you will not break my family.”
Some early reports indicated that a gun was found on the porch and that a car driven by the perpetrators was located nearby. But Clark says that there was no gun found on the porch and that investigators have not been able to verify that the vehicle was in any way connected to the crime.
Police believe that the three gunmen were between 17 and 19 years old. Detectives are currently scouring the neighborhood for surveillance cameras that might have caught the suspects on camera. Anyone with information is asked to call the Homicide Division at 215-686-3334.
