Philadelphia Man Shot to Death in Street While Working on Anti-Gun Violence Video, Cops Say

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PHILADELPHIA, PA – A Philadelphia man working on filming an anti-gun violence video campaign was discovered on Monday evening mortally wounded and lying on a sidewalk after having been shot multiple times; he later passed away after being taken to a local area hospital, according to reports.

Police say the responded to a shooting that had occurred at approximately 8 p.m. on the 1900 block of Page Street in North Philadelphia’s Strawberry Mansion neighborhood. Once there, officers found Anthony Merriett, 55, on the sidewalk next to the open passenger door of his van. Merriett had been shot in the head, chest, torso and legs, and four empty shell casings had been found at the scene.

Authorities immediately took Merriett to Temple University Hospital, where doctors pronounced him dead shortly after his arrival; his death marks the 119th homicide in Philadelphia in 2021 so far.

According to Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Scott Small, Merriett and the owner of the production company he worked for were in a home in the neighborhood conducting interviews for a video about stopping gun violence that was scheduled to air on Netflix.

“This 55-year-old male was working for a production company,” Small said. “They were inside of a private residence. They were interviewing and filming some family members whose children were victims of gun violence in the last two to three years.”

Small said that Merriett was shot multiple times when he left the house momentarily to retrieve some additional equipment from his van. A bag with production equipment and two cell phones were found next to his body, officials say.

Currently no motive for the shooting is known. Police are currently attempting to recover footage from surveillance cameras installed on private residences surveillance in the neighborhood, with hopes that the shooting was captured on them.

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