Peephole Shooting Leaves One Dead In Philadelphia

“Peephole shooting” was a trending term on Yahoo! today, and while few details have been released on the specific case it refers to, there’s enough to make us think twice about checking on stray knocks on our front door moving forward.

According to police, a 29-year-old man squinting through the peephole of his Philadelphia home was shot in the face and died soon after.

The attack occurred on Sunday night in the victim’s East Germantown neighborhood, Reuters reports; adding that the man peered out through an “improvised peephole” at the side of his door and that “multiple shots” rang out soon thereafter.

The peephole shooting victim has not been identified by police at this time, nor have any arrests been made. It is believed that the shooter had an accomplice and that he “fled on foot.”

A separate report from SFGate.com quoted Chief Inspector Scott Small as saying that “at least two shots” were fired, that they came “from outside the home,” and that no intruders entered the home.

What’s particularly disturbing about the peephole shooting is that it bears all the hallmarks of random violence and criminal mischief that the so-called “knockout game” did last year.

The Inquisitr reported frequently on knockout game attacks throughout the country, with a few turning deadly.

Only time will tell if the peephole shooting is the start of another cowardly crime trend or if it’s just an isolated case where the perpetrator was taking advantage of the unique peephole the victim used to peer out.

Hopefully, it’s the latter, but even so, homeowners and apartment dwellers should probably start taking extra precautions when approaching the front door of their homes to answer anyone standing on the other side.

Particularly at night, when a perpetrator has the cover of darkness on their side, it’s a good idea to stay clear of the front door and not answer or go near it if you’re not expecting any visitors.

Also, you might want to think about installing a “smart peephole,” so you can check the identity of your visitors before getting up to answer.

Systems are priced anywhere from $40 to $400. Grainger makes one of the most advanced. It sells for $426 online and includes a covert door mount so an assailant won’t prepare his attack by first vandalizing the device. It also features a discrete outdoor color camera that feeds video to your smartphone.

The number one thing is to be mindful of possible future peephole shooting attacks and not get caught off guard.

[Image via Flickr Creative Commons]