Two men were found shot to death with their hands zip-tied behind their backs near a park in Philadelphia overnight, police said.
The victims — a 35-year-old from New Jersey and a still-unidentified adult — appeared to have been shot execution-style and were found near Enfield and Solly avenues in the Holmesburg neighborhood, on the edge of Pennypack Park, according to Philadelphia’s ABC 6.
Officers responded to the 4500 block of Solly Avenue shortly after 4 a.m. following reports of gunfire and found the two men lying on the ground.
“Both males were shot execution-style to the head,” Capt. Shaun Butts of the Philadelphia Police Department told Fox 29. “Both males were tied by the hands behind their backs.”
They were each shot once in the head, police told NBC Philadelphia.
Cops believe the two victims went to that location to meet with two individuals, who arrived in the park in a teal Honda Pilot.
The girlfriend of one of the victims reportedly told investigators she had driven them to that location. She then waited nearby as the two men spoke with the suspects, police said. That’s when she heard two gunshots.
“[The victims] had a conversation with two other males… After that conversation, these males were executed,” Butts said.
After the shooting, the suspects approached the woman and asked her about a bag, the woman reportedly told police.
“She didn’t know what bag they were talking about,” Butts said. “The individuals got in the vehicle and left the area.”
The weapon used in the shooting has not been located, but investigators recovered the cellphone of one of the victims, police said.
Investigators are now working to determine whether the incident was a robbery or a “drug deal gone bad,” according to Butts.
