“A Wawa in Philadelphia is in shambles after dozens of young people…”

That’s how this news report starts out. “Young people.” That’s so quaint, isn’t it? Like Tommy and the Rugrats got a little boisterous in the juice-box and fruit roll-ups aisle. But no. Not like that at all. These “young people” did it Philly style on Saturday night:

…Police say officers arrived on the scene and observed roughly 100 juveniles causing damage to the store.

No injuries were reported, but residents Action News spoke with expressed outrage over the incident.

One woman who did not want to be identified says she often thinks twice before entering the store.

“Sometimes I’m afraid to stop, it’s a shame,” she said.

Video captured the juveniles inside the store throwing food and causing damage to the business.

It wasn’t even 8:30 at night yet! No one should be afraid to go to a convenience store that early. Vurt da furk?! Yet, here they were.

A large group of criminals ransacked a WaWa store tonight in Philadelphia pic.twitter.com/bviiexZJR2

— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) September 25, 2022

(I probably shouldn’t have linked to Libs’ video because SHE calls the youths “criminals” – such a H8TR)

Thousands up thousands of views on the videos, and no arrests yet. Nobody recognizes anybody. The police are probably tied up trying to sort out the weekend carnage in any event. It was a busy “Welcome to Fall” on the mean streets for Philadelphia’s overtaxed law enforcement.

Philadelphia shootings: 4 dead, 20 shot including 2-year-old in deadly first fall weekend

Philadelphia may be cooling off from the summer heat, but gun violence is still on the rise with at least 20 people struck by gunfire in a string of shootings this weekend.

The deadly shootings began late Friday night when a teen succumbed to his injuries in Kensington. Police say the 18-year-old was shot multiple times in what may have been a “robbery gone bad.”

After the “robbery gone bad,” the weekend went south from a crime perspective. The culture among Philly’s “young people” is such, that jacking up people waiting for a subway is a real hoot to be loaded onto your Instagram feed for your peeps to giggle about.

#Philadelphia

WARNING: Potentially disturbing to some viewers

This video posted to Instagram and Reddit shows a gunman pointing his gun to the head of a man waiting on the subway. pic.twitter.com/GzZsDcptAD

— PhillyCrimeUpdate (@PhillyCrimeUpd) September 26, 2022

Seeing how casually that happens, it’s not surprising the next step is executing someone walking home. A young Democratic staffer was murdered in cold blood early Thursday morning, walking home from the subway station. What was initially thought to be a robbery, turned out to be a hit job – nothing more, nothing less – by someone waiting in the area for the better part of an hour for a victim.

Philadelphia police said Friday they now believe the fatal shooting of a 23-year-old in West Philadelphia was “completely unprovoked,” and that the shooter did not interact with the victim before firing at his back.

“This was not a robbery attempt as we initially believed,” said Homicide Capt. Jason Smith.

Everett Beauregard had just exited a train at the 34th and Market SEPTA station around 12:30 a.m. Thursday, and was walking home after spending time with friends in South Philadelphia.

Meanwhile, police say, surveillance video shows a young man, with a gun concealed in his hoodie, had been walking around the area, near the 400 block of North 35th Street, for about an hour.

…Video shows Beauregard walking past the suspect, who then suddenly turns around and fires multiple times at Beauregard’s back, striking him once in the back of the neck.

The video is at the link, and it is ghastly. What sort of inhuman, soulless monster casually does that? Where does he start on his road to such barbarism?

At the Wawa? Graduating to videos whilst terrifying innocent people waving a pistol for your Instagram later?

They are literally, brazenly setting ambushes.

Carjacking in Northeast Philadelphia Cottman and Torresdale 6am at Dunkin’. Notice how they’re just standing in the street look for a victim. Its getting to the point if men in hoodies approach your car its best to run them over pic.twitter.com/xl3ciXsKdD

— 💥 (@0Ie2I5) September 24, 2022

Back in May of this year, the Police Commissioner was already saying her folks “couldn’t keep up” with the crime:

…“The truth is the homicides are not happening in a vacuum – there are those out there who are determined to attack and kill their victims,” Outlaw said. “While we are making constant adjustments to mitigate this sickening reality, our officers, simply put, just can’t keep up by being everywhere at all times.”

One of the problems, Outlaw said, is she has fewer officers…

They are way, way under where they should be.

…The Philadelphia Police Department has faced a critical shortage of officers for months — one that’s all but certain to get worse as hundreds more cops plan to leave.

With the police force already operating about 20 percent below its target staffing level, more than 800 officers and civilian employees have set retirement dates within the next four years by enrolling in the city’s deferred pension program.

The decades-old program helps officials prepare for the departure of longtime employees by allowing city workers to begin collecting on pension benefits four years before they retire. Fresh pension records analyzed by The Philadelphia Inquirer show the number of Police Department enrollees doubled in four years.

The figures mean officers are leaving faster than the department can recruit them. The force is virtually guaranteed to see about 200 retirements for each of the next four years. But this year, just 120 cadets will be eligible to graduate from the police academy.

The wave of impending retirements comes atop nearly 600 existing officer vacancies, soaring resignations and hundreds of injury claims that have taken more cops off active duty. All told, the force is already some 1,300 officers short of its full complement of 6,380.

Even when they waived the residency requirement, what a disaster…

…The city’s residency requirement has been a major barrier to hiring, department leaders have said. In 2020, City Council passed a law requiring applicants live in the city for a year before applying. Philadelphia is the only large American city with such a rule.

During a spring City Council hearing, police leaders said after the rule took effect in 2021, applications dropped by 30 percent.

In April, the Kenney administration waived the pre-residency requirement for police officers. But it contributed to a deficit the department has not recovered from.

Additionally, the vast majority of applicants fail to pass a battery of screening programs.

The department said last year, for example, it invited nearly 3,800 applicants to attend spring orientation.

Just 900 showed up. Upwards of 500 failed the reading test or agility test. More were eliminated following drug tests, background checks, and a psychological evaluation.

The department ultimately offered jobs to 65 people. Forty-eight started training at the academy.

Just 41 graduated.

Larry Krasner, the Philadelphia District Attorney (another in the Chesa Boudin mold and $1.7M of Soros money beneficiary) isn’t helping the crime situation – you could factually say he is keeping the streets populated with offenders. Skyrocketing violent crime and subsequent breakdown of any sense of security in the streets have him under investigation by state legislators, hoping to impeach and then force him from office.

…The impeachment process could take months, with a trial in the state House if a majority of members voted in favor. After trial, a two-thirds vote by the state Senate would be needed to remove Krasner from office. That means 34 of the 50 members of the Senate would have to vote guilty, a high number considering there are only 28 Republicans, with 21 Democrats and one Independent.

Such a vote would almost certainly be challenged in court.

In the meantime, what happens to the citizens of the city? Fend for yourselves, stay in the middle lane until you have to turn, always lock your car doors, stay with as many people as you can, and avoid groups of “young people,” but I don’t know how one protects oneself from being shot in the back. That’s beyond my skill set.

On the other hand, there are always the oblivious individuals who, no matter what flames the world is collapsing in around them, have their focus firmly on the prize.

Sammiches.

Woman as a Philadelphia Wawa is being ransacked around her: "Are y'all gonna make the sandwiches or are ya'll just gonna keep recording?"

Wawa employee: "Uh… It's going to be a while" pic.twitter.com/S8SORxfgs7

— Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) September 25, 2022