After yesterday releasing grainy surveillance video of two men wanted for the murder of Officer Moses Walker Jr., a Philadelphia policeman shot and killed during an attempted robbery just minutes after he left work at the 22nd District station in North Philadelphia Saturday morning, investigators this afternoon made public a new, clearer video of the suspects walking together just minutes before the crime.
They are hoping it will lead to an identification of the killers, who they say announced a robbery on the 2000 block of Cecil B. Moore Avenue around 6 a.m. before fatally shooting Walker three times before he had a chance to fire off a shot from his service weapon, which was found unholstered underneath his body. “These guys will rob again and they will kill again if we don’t get them off the street, so it’s important,” Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey said this afternoon.
In the newly-obtained footage, the two suspects can be seen walking together on the 1900 block of Cecil B. Moore Avenue an estimated five minutes before the shooting. They are described as two black males wearing hoodies and dark-colored shorts. One of the men is bald and possibly sports a beard or goatee.
“The way the video would depict, it looks like they’re just walking down the street,” Homicide Capt. James Clark said. “They see what they believe to be a target and they pounce on it.” He said that it appears that Walker was aware of the suspects, as he can be seen looking over his shoulder several times, but the gunman crossed the street relatively quickly. “I think he caught the officer by surprise,” Clark said.
Meanwhile, the reward for information leading to the killers’ arrests and conviction has grown to $118,000. Investigators say tips are rolling in and detectives have been combing through numerous videos provided by both businesses and private residents in the neighborhood. “A tip may have already come in that will lead us there [to the arrests], but you have to follow all these things up and it takes time,” Ramsey said.
Police are still urging the public to come forward. “They’re vicious, violent killers. There’s predators and there’s prey. That’s what they’re doing – they’re out there specifically to track somebody down to rob them, shoot them, whatever,” Ramsey said, noting that it is unfortunate they are still on the street. “Until these individuals are in jail for a long period of time, it’s not going to stop. Tomorrow it could be somebody else. The next day it could be you.”
Anyone with information is urged to call 911, contact the Homicide Unit at 215-686-3334 or 215-686-3335 or to submit an anonymous tip by dialing 215-686-TIPS (8477), texting PPDTIP (773847), emailing [email protected] or filling out a form on the department’s website.
