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Philadelphia Police Searching For 4 Suspects In Shooting Homicide Of Sebastian Brown Over Violent Weekend

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- There are new leads in the search for suspects in the deadly Mother's Day weekend violence in Philadelphia. But as the city looks forward to progress made against coronavirus, police say trends are far less promising in the fight against crime.

New images released Wednesday afternoon show four men who police believe are responsible for the murder of 20-year-old Sebastian Brown on the 1700 block of West Ruscomb Street on Saturday evening.

Law enforcement officials say the group hopped out of a silver Outlander just before 8 p.m. and went after both the driver and Brown, who was in the front passenger seat.

Homicides are now up 34%, and so are domestic violence-related killings.

Homicide detectives say the active search for 23-year-old Justin Smith continues. He's accused of killing his girlfriend Dianna Brice, who was pregnant with his baby boy. He should be considered armed and dangerous. There is a $20,000 reward for information leading to an arrest.

While these suspects are at large, police say they have made some progress, taking more than 2,200 illegal guns off the street.

"Those barrels hold 50 rounds of ammunition, plus whatever the magazine held. A couple of these guns were able to fire up to 80 rounds. I have no idea what anyone anywhere would need 80 rounds of ammunition to fire, especially on the streets of our cities," Philadelphia Police Department Chief Insp. Frank Vanore said.

While department leaders plead for tips from the public, Commissioner Danielle Outlaw was before City Council today in support of funding for department operations.

Officially, the department is asking for $727 million for fiscal year 2022 operations. That's the same budget as this year.

City Council is due to pass the final city budget by June.

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