Police ID Female Clerk Fatally Shot Inside West Kensington Store
By Elizabeth Hur, Nicole Brewer
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – Monday night proved to be another violent night on the streets of Philadelphia.
A woman working at a local store was shot and killed just before 8 p.m. The victim has been identified by family members as 28-year-old Renya Aguirre-Alonso.
Fearing for her safety, one neighbor only identified herself as Jessica and said, "It's a shame, it's a shame. She was a good person."
The victim, according to Jessica, worked as the manager at a corner grocery store on the 3300 block of Mutter Street for the last two years.
Jessica added, "I see her everyday. In fact, I just had a conversation with her this morning about trying to be a little more tough with the people around here."
Jessica noted the two signs posted on the store's front door should explain what the workers at the store were up against. One sign read: "No Weapons Allowed." The second sign read: "Take hoods off before walking in store."
"It's gotten real bad around here. It's so bad, basically, it's a big problem, drugs," Jessica said.
"This is a well known drug location, unfortunately but hopefully we can find out the truth and figure out what occurred," Chief Inspector Scott Small said.
For now, police say they don't know why this happened. They do know, however, there were several other people inside the store at the time of the shooting. But eyewitnesses told police, the lone gunman headed straight for the female victim and shot her at least four times.
"The perpetrator entered the store, fired several shots at point blank range at this female. This male did not announce a robbery. Nothing was taken from the store. So we believe the motive was to shoot her and kill her," Small explained.
Police said the suspect's description is vague: black male wearing a grey hooded sweatshirt, black ski mask and armed with a silver handgun.
The suspect was last seen running east-bound on West Moreland Street.
Police say investigators are in the process of recovering surveillance video from inside of the store to get some answers.
Follow Elizabeth on Twitter @HurElizabeth
