Yo, Philly in the News: Violence and Death Edition

• Various civic leaders and organizations came together on Sunday and pledged to put aside their differences to fight violence together, and to support healing in the community. The meeting was in reaction to the increasing number of shootings and murders plaguing the city.
• Of course, there are also more direct ways of dealing with gun violence, as one 23-year-old armed robber learned when he walked into Gomez Grocery in East Germantown on Sunday. He tried to stick up the place, but one of the customers, a 66-year-old man named Thomas Santana, grabbed him from behind in a bear hug, and the store owner helped Santana wrestle the guy to the ground. The gunman managed to fire off a few shots, but only succeeded in shooting himself in the head. He was finally subdued and the gun taken away from him after Santana smashed him four times in the head with a nearby jar of Mott's applesauce. Dude, that's hardcore.
• It may be hard to believe, but there have been more overdoses and other drug-related deaths in the city this year than murders. The same was true last year and the year before.

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