Ellie Rushing
@EllieRushing
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Floridian turned Philadelphian. Covering criminal justice issues and gun violence for @Phillyinquirer . DM or email erushing @inquirer .com. She/her.
Philadelphia, PA
Joined April 2012
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When police arrested the 18-year-old for car theft, they had no clue that he held the key to solving four homicides — and nearly dismantling a West Philadelphia gang.
This is the story of how that teen bravely testified in the face of enormous danger.
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West Philly reacts to Biden’s lead in Pennsylvania by dancing in the street, of course
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Neighborhoods across the Philadelphia region are experiencing significant delays in receiving their mail, with some residents going upwards of three weeks without packages and letters, leaving them without medication, paychecks, and bills.
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Brooke O’Hara, Sharon Hayes, and and their daughter, Alice, hosted the dance party.
“It just felt really symbolic that the Philly drop put Biden over,” said O’Hara. She said their house had been putting in 20 hrs/week to educate voters & help local campaigns leading up to Nov 3.
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Delaware County police officers shot and killed an 8-year-old girl after hearing gunfire a block away, and opening fire on a vehicle.
Now, the DA is charging the two teen boys who allegedly fired the shots down the street—which struck no one—with murder.
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“Why didn’t they use a taser?” said his father, Walter Wallace Sr.
“His mother was trying to diffuse the situation,” he said. He said his son struggles with mental health issues and is on medication.
“He has mental issues. Why you have to gun him down?”
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Walter Wallace Jr., 27, a twin, father, and son, was shot 10 times by police, said his father, Walter Wallace Sr.
A video shows Wallace was at least 10 ft away from the officers when began shooting. His mother begged them not to shoot.
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My hometown of Naples is underwater. My dad had to flee his home in chest-deep water. High school peers are posting on Facebook asking for rescues, unable to reach 911. This is truly catastrophic; a storm that will change Southwest Florida forever.
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BREAKING: Bellmawr police have arrested a man who was working out inside Atilis Gym. It’s unclear what the charge is.
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Experts also said the actions violate Title 39, the 1970 act outlining the USPS' role. One line: "The costs of establishing & maintaining the Postal Service shall not be apportioned to impair the overall value of such service to the people." Take a read:
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Yes, O’Hara is wearing a Warren shirt, but she said she’s grown to like Biden & is proud of his work this year.
Hayes believes a Biden win won’t end all issues, but would allow local leaders like
@rick4westphilly
&
@CouncilmemberJG
to “build what we need for our communities.”
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I’m in the Cobbs Creek neighborhood of Philadelphia, where police shot a Black man less than an hour ago. Witnesses say he had a knife but was not charging police. Numerous shell casings are in the street. Neighbors are irate, crying, yelling at police.
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BREAKING: The remains of MOVE members were NOT discarded and have been FOUND in tact — a subordinate disobeyed Health Commissioner Farley’s orders to dispose of the remains.
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The FBI raided the home of the vice president of the Proud Boys’ Philadelphia chapter on Friday, seizing his computer, phone, & other electronics to gather information on the Jan. 6 attack at the U.S. Capitol, his lawyer said Monday.
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An expert said the current changes are part of the Trump administration’s quest to turn the public against the post office— the most beloved & trusted public agency— and ultimately privatize It. Union leaders said it’s working— customers are beyond frustrated.
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POP THE CHAMPAGNE because... I'M HIRED.
I have been dreaming of this day for so long, & I am so thrilled to officially become a full-time staff reporter at The Philadelphia Inquirer. Thank you to my great colleagues, editors, & residents of Philly for believing in me.
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If you drive in the rain at night in Philly, you’re basically just guessing where the street lanes are and hoping for the best
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Policy changes at the hand of a new Trump-appointed Postmaster General eliminate overtime, slash office hours, & order mail carriers to leave mail behind — things which carriers said are sacred tenants of their job. These are exacerbating staff shortages due to COVID-19.
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I’ve been waiting for someone to do a story on the Christian Crowdfunding website, Give Send Go. It’s the same site that former Trump campaign staffers used to raise $700k+ to cold call voters to try and uncover fraud, which
@wbender99
and I wrote about.
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Carriers said they’re being forced to prioritize delivering Amazon packages. They said their stations are overflowing with parcels, & that piles of first class mail are sitting on the floor, often unscanned. One works 90 hours per week, but still can’t finish his route.
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Just beyond awful news this morning: Local journalist Josh Kruger, 39, was fatally shot inside his Point Breeze home overnight. Police haven't identified a motive but believe someone entered his house and shot him. No arrests yet.
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Valerie Rice, of Overbrook Park, said her mail only arrives once every two weeks. She receives medication for her autistic grandson through the mail, but now it doesn’t come. “I try to stay by him & pray for life that I have what I need to take care of him,” said Rice, 65.
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He was desperate, & angry. I called around just to ask what was up, & in the process, discovered an entire crisis. Dozens of other residents started calling me with similar stories.
Subscribe to your local paper! This story started with a reader. I hope they get their mail soon.
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A jury has awarded $16 million to a Philadelphia man whose murder conviction was overturned after he spent 25 years on death row and in solitary confinement. It is the largest wrongful conviction payout in city history.
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The line at the Liacouras Center for the Black Doctors COVID-19 Consortium’s 24-hour, walk-up vaccination site wraps around the building multiple times. There are over a thousand people waiting in snow and freezing cold. People who arrived at 9 a.m. have yet to get in.
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A Delaware County carrier of 20 years said if a carrier is out for the day, their route often goes undelivered because there aren’t enough people to fill in. He said OT hasn’t been cut from his office, but if it is, it will be detrimental. “The mail wouldn’t go out,” he said.
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Trump just openly admitted during an interview on Fox Business that he is holding up aid to the post office to stop mail-in ballots. “They need that money in order to make the post office work so it can take all of these millions and millions of ballots..."
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“In Philadelphia they went in to watch... they were thrown out. They were’t allowed to watch,” Trump says. “There are bad things happening in Philadelphia, bad things.”
This. is. not. true.
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"The Plaza’s final death rattle thudded against the sand until the main tower, already stripped of its parts & exterior walls, a house of cards draped in black netting, begging for years to be put out of its misery, disappeared from the Boardwalk skyline."
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Michael Vahey, 68, has been charged with fatally striking Dr. Barbara Friedes as she rode her bike last week. His BAC was twice the legal limit at time of the crash, police said. The charges: vehicular homicide, vehicular homicide by DUI, reckless driving, DUI, and more.
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A protestor just sent me this video, depicting the chaos and panic as people were trapped behind fences yet police continued to throw tear gas at them. I was in the middle of this crowd. I can confirm it was genuinely terrifying. It felt like there was no way out.
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A woman who told me she was hired and paid by the Trump campaign to monitor polling places just arrived. She wouldn’t speak to me on the record. She said she’s been hired to “oversee the integrity of the election” and was angry they wouldn’t let her inside.
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Black Doctors COVID-19 Consortium vaccinated 4,000 Philadelphians in 24-hours, the organization announced. The lines were long and the wait time was brutal, but the consortium doubled its goal, and most of the people in line yesterday were people of color.
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This thread is gaining a lot of traction. I had heard about changes in the post office through national outlets, but hadn’t seen anything in Philly. Then a reader emailed me — Robert Young Sr., one of the subjects— asking if I could help him figure out why his mail wasn’t coming.
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BIG news from
@Elaijuh
.
Pennsylvania's Supreme Court has extended the state's mail-in ballot deadline, allowing mail ballots to be accepted up until three days after Election Day if they are postmarked by Nov. 3 or have no proof they were sent afterward.
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who is behind this small army of figurines guarding the acme on east passyunk
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He walks 10 miles a day for 12 hours in the summer heat. Sweat stings his eyes. His clothes are drenched. But he never falters or stops.
People need their mail.
My afternoon with a local mail carrier:
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Jailhouse informants say that Philadelphia homicide detectives traded sex and drugs for testimony in murder cases — and that innocent men are serving life in prison as a result.
More mind-boggling reporting by
@samanthamelamed
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Wallace had a knife, and police told him to drop it, before both officers fired shots. This is a developing story:
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After three straight years of record-setting gun violence, shootings in Philadelphia so far this year have plummeted to levels that rival the lowest pace in nearly two decades.
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Unhoused Philadelphians have formed a protest encampment at 22nd and Ben Franklin Parkway to advocate for affordable housing in the city. Volunteers and donors have built food stations, first aid, clothing, and book areas to support them.
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Read more about this viral celebration, and all the other fabulous reporting my colleagues at the Philadelphia Inquirer have been producing around the clock:
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Nicolas Elizalde, 14, was so gentle, that even when his mother told him to stand up to a bully, he would refuse: “I could just make him my friend instead,” she recalled him saying.
Nick was fatally shot Tuesday outside of Roxborough High.
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when you’re biking home from the bar and see a dance party so you stop and then
@jblumgart
is also here
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More than 200 people have gathered outside Atilis Gym in Bellmawr, NJ in support of the owner’s decision to defy the governor’s orders and reopen the gym. It is set to open at 8 a.m.
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UPDATE: man who was arrested was released & has returned to the parking lot. Said he was taken to the police station and given two citations for breaking the gov’s orders and obstruction. “I asked them why they needed my name and the next thing I knew they were handcuffing me.”
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UPDATE: Judge finds Philly landlord Gagandeep Lakhmna in contempt of court, after more than a dozen tenants of his North Philly apartment complex were locked out of their homes again, against judge's earlier order. Fined $23k + $1k per day for each unit not reinstated.
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Ugh. Sorry to Brooke, her last name is spelled O'Harra.
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last night we saw a man light fireworks with his cigarette! happy New Years, Philly
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I’m in Boston and some bro had the audacity to tell me “Philadelphians have no dignity.” Why didn’t anyone tell me I needed to bring my brass knuckles on this trip
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The jorts. The high tops. Wearing matching tie dye shirts and crossing Snyder Avenue, hand in hand. I love my neighbors.
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Outside of Roxborough High School, where after a football scrimmage just before 5 p.m., as players went to get on the bus, someone pulled up in a car and shot four young players. A 14-year-old has died, police have said. This is preliminary and hope to have more information soon.
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SCOOP: Philly's Department of Health has ended its partnership with Philly Fighting COVID after it failed to disclose that it formed a for-profit arm and that the personal info residents entered into the vaccination preregistration portal could be sold.
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I can’t stop thinking about Gabby Giffords. I saw her speak at my college in 2017 and since then, her speech has improved so much, delivering her longest speech yet tonight. I can’t imagine how hard she must work every day.
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@amydipa
Carrier are being told to prioritize Amazon packages. Apparently there are fees / penalties when those parcels aren’t delivered on time.
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*looks around, confused*
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Christopher Cabrera, 38, was also killed Wednesday in Kensington. He was waiting to cross the street when a driver who police believe was under the influence of drugs drove onto the sidewalk and struck him at a high rate of speed. He died at the scene.
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“At no time were these individuals allowed inside of our building,” said president of Philly police union in a statement condemning the Proud Boys.
The Proud Boys posted a picture from inside the lodge in their public chat forum on Thursday night.
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We set out to learn about the life of every child shot and killed in Philadelphia in a single year. The result is a poignant picture of the state of the city’s gun violence & who it almost always impacts: the most vulnerable youth. These are their stories.
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People are waiting to vote in Philly’s Overbrook satellite office, but the state’s voter database is down. Some people have been standing for over an hour. “This is ridiculous. I just want to vote & get out of here,” said Barry Corprew. His 92-year-old mother had to go sit down.
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This woman did not vote or attempt to. She wanted to be let inside the place to monitor what was going on. They told her she was not allowed unless she was there to actually register to vote, etc. so then she made her argument and left after they wouldn’t let her in.
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I start a new beat today at The Inquirer as a criminal justice reporter. I’m really grateful for the opportunity to cover this at such a critical point for the city. Have a lot of listening and learning to do so reach out to me about anything, all tips and story ideas welcome.
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Philly Twitter literally publicly shamed my employer into hiring me. Love y’all forever.
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Three critical or fatal car-pedestrian crashes within just a few hours tonight in Philly. Very troubling.
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The 27-year-old man died at the hospital, police said.
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New info per police re: crowds of teens in Center City last night: No one was arrested. 4 teens were issued street citations, one for possessing an airsoft gun, 3 for disorderly conduct. No property was damaged. No rocks thrown. Officer hurt his ankle while chasing after a kid.
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Geneva Corprew has officially submitted her mail-in ballot, the first to do so at the Overbrook satellite location. She’s 91 & says she was worried about her health & the rumors Trump was spreading about mail ballots, so she didn’t want to risk anything. “I’m so glad it’s over.”
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Really good reporting. Surprised The Times couldn’t give us a link though given we reported most of this Philadelphia news weeks ago.
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To clarify my initial tweet, which was based on witness interviews, Wallace does walk towards police while holding the knife, video shows. Here’s more information on what unfolded:
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My family is safe. They don’t have power and very little cell service so updates are sparse. But they’re OK. Thank you everyone for the kind words. We now wait until morning to see just how much devastation there is.
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Driving on Girard Ave in West Philly at night means having no idea what lane you’re in. It’s all vibes based
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Good morning, Philly. Hundreds of people whose lives have been affected by gun violence are expected to descend on Harrisburg today to advocate for reform. I’m riding w/ a bus of survivors. Tears are already flowing.
“You can be the voice for your baby,” said
@ChantayLove_
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The $7.7 million CHOP’s CEO made last year amounts “to more than the nonprofit hospital spent on free and discounted services to financially needy patients, or charity care, over the three previous years combined.”
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Update from
@NathanielPosts
: during Vahey’s arraignment this afternoon, prosecutors said Vahey had a prior DUI conviction. In 2009, he was arrested with a 0.20 BAC while driving the wrong way down Pine near 10th. Record was expunged after completing alcohol treatment program.
Michael Vahey, 68, has been charged with fatally striking Dr. Barbara Friedes as she rode her bike last week. His BAC was twice the legal limit at time of the crash, police said. The charges: vehicular homicide, vehicular homicide by DUI, reckless driving, DUI, and more.
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When you’ve lived through enough storms & weather warnings that “this will be the big one,” & it’s not, it changes how you think. Waiting it out feels like it’s worth the risk in the end. Bc if it’s not bad, you saved $. And in the end, you still have to come back to the damage.
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I was listening in on a small South Jersey township’s council meeting this evening and someone said: “Just so you all know a lady at the Philadelphia Inquirer has been interviewing people about this and it’s not going to look good on our town.”
Local news for the win.
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Today I toured Philadelphia’s USPS processing facility to better understand how mail is processed, and check out a brand new package sorting machine, which sorts at least 50k parcels per day and should be a big help come the holidays.
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This guy stole an open flag and is just carrying it down broad Street
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Philadelphia Police now say Eddie Irizarry never got out of his car and did not "lunge" at officers with a knife before an officer shot him multiple times, killing him. The change in narrative raises new questions:
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President Trump and his son wrongly said that poll watchers were barred from overseeing polling places in Philadelphia today.
But no official poll watchers have been approved yet, and no actual polling places are even open in the city.
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Police won’t confirm the charge, but owners said the man refused to give his name to police, so he was arrested. Another man was also given a summons, not sure on charge. And owners say two people were pulled over. Police say anyone leaving the gym will be issued a summons.
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And just now, police say that at 9 p.m., two women and a baby were crossing the street at Front & E Wyoming when they were hit by a car. The baby, a 1-year-old girl, was killed. The other women are stable at the hospital. No info on cause of crash or driver for now, per police.
Three critical or fatal car-pedestrian crashes within just a few hours tonight in Philly. Very troubling.
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For everyone in my mentions saying ThEY sHoUld HaVE lEfT: 1. That doesn’t change the physical damage. 2. It’s $$ 3. When you live in FL, hurricanes are a way of life. I come from a family of 5th gen Floridians. I missed a whole month of school one year bc of back to back storms.
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When Kameenah Bronzell was just 15, she started an Instagram page to honor Philadelphia’s gun violence victims. Then her brother became one.
Read about this angel of a teen and the grief she shoulders from strangers every day, while navigating her own.
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