Two separate scenes just minutes from each other in Philadelphia’s Kensington neighborhood late Wednesday into early Thursday: a man’s body was found in a shopping cart and a hardware store caught fire.
Philadelphia police searched for clues overnight after a man with blood on his face was found dead in a shopping cart in the Kensington neighborhood.
Officers and medics rushed to H and East Westmoreland streets around 11:30 p.m. Wednesday for a report of a body, Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Scott Small said.
"The fact that he's in a shopping cart, on the sidewalk... is very, very unusual," Small said.
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The man was positioned with his back down in the cart and his head hanging off the side, Small said.
"He did have blood on his face," Small said. The blood appeared to have come from his nose and was caused by some sort of trauma.
He was pronounced dead on the scene. Police later determined his death to be a homicide.
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The shopping cart was covered in blankets and debris, so it was unclear if there was trauma to his body, Small said.
The medical examiner's office would perform an autopsy to determine how the man died, investigators said.
Police found a trail of blood that led back to a nearby abandoned house on H Street, police said. People at that location were taken in for questioning by homicide detectives.
Homicide investigators were processing the scenes in a search for clues, Small said.
Entering Thursday, at least 397 people have been killed in Philadelphia so far in 2023, according to police data. The homicide total is down 19% year over year, but still setting up to be one of the deadliest years since 2007.
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