What to Know
- A man was shot and killed on prison grounds less than an hour after he was released from the Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility in Northeast Philadelphia early Thursday.
- Officers found 20-year-old Rodney Hargrove with multiple gunshot wounds near the front gate and he was pronounced dead at the scene.
- Hargrove was shot after running back onto prison grounds while being pursued by someone in a vehicle, prison officials said.
A young man was shot and killed after running back onto jail grounds shortly after his release from the Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility in Philadelphia early Thursday.
Police were called the jail on State Road in the city’s Holmesburg section around 2 a.m., Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Scott Small said.
Medics pronounced 20-year-old Rodney Hargrove dead after he was shot multiple times throughout his body, investigators said.
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At least 10 shots were fired.
“It appears that the shooter or shooters were in very close proximity to this 20-year-old victim when the shots were fired,” Small said.
Hargrove was released about 45 minutes before he was gunned down, Philadelphia Prisons Commissioner Blanche Carney said.
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Police originally didn't know why the 20-year-old was behind bars or what part of CFCF has was released from. We later learned that Hargrove was jailed on March 11 for theft and weapons charges and was released after a bail company posted $200,000 bail on Thursday, according to Carney and online court records.
He was dropped off at a SEPTA bus stop across the street from the main gate of the jail complex and was waiting for his family to pick him up after giving them a call, Carney said.
Hargrove ran back across the street and onto the CFCF campus as a driver in a dark-colored vehicle pursued him after going under the raised arm of the gate, Carney said. The reasoning for the manual gate arm being raised was under investigation.
A correctional officer in a nearby guard post near where the deadly shooting occurred didn’t see it, but did see a dark-colored vehicle speeding away from the scene, investigators said.
Hargrove was gunned down near a shack near the main gate and the bus stop isn't in view of jail surveillance cameras, Small said. The Department of Prisons is reviewing other video to see if any other cameras captured the scene.
No CFCF staff was hurt in the shooting, which took place in a matter of minutes.
In the week that Hargrove was in jail, he had no incidents and wasn't in protective custody, Carney said. It was unclear why he was targeted.
The shooting, which is rare at the CFCF complex, remained under investigation.
Gun violence has rocked Philadelphia as deadly shootings are on an unprecedented pace this year. As of the end of Wednesday, Philadelphia reported at least 104 homicides, up 32% from the same time last year.
"2021 is on track to be the most violent year we've experienced in our lifetimes," Mayor Jim Kenney said Wednesday during a briefing about ongoing gun violence in Philadelphia.
Philadelphia leaders are looking at programming and outreach to curb the gun violence.
There are additional resources for people or communities that have endured gun violence in Philadelphia. Further information can be found here.
