A shot in the dark
Last night Philadelphia police killed two men.
One man had an arrest warrant out on him. Cops came to find him at his West Philadelphia home, and when he saw them, he ran. They shot him while he was running away from them. He was unarmed.
The other incident screams “suicide by cop,” though I can’t get confirmation of that. Restaurant owner Sam Ryan, 36, was sitting on his front stoop, his house burning behind him. He was holding a gun. When cops approached him, he pointed the gun at him and killed him. There’s a suggestion that he was distraught because his longstanding neighborhood chicken-wing joint had gone out of business.
I want to find out more about this case, so I’ll be leaving early. If anyone in Philly is reading this, and knows Ryan or even ate at his shop and wants to reminisce, please get in touch. I’d like to give him a fitting tribute.
liz | 1:58 PM | Uncategorized
I am writing in response to an entry on your blog
about Sam Ryan, especially the part where you asked ifanyone wanted to reminisce. I grew up with Sam inPhiladelphia and we were friends for years inelementary school. Then my family moved away to Florida and I saw him less and less. I haven’t seen Sam in years, probably since I was in college, and he was still living on Hicks Street. I was alerted to the story in the paper by my parents who heard about it from friends who still live in Philadelphia and have no idea what to make of it. I know Sam was a great kid. We played baseball in Fairmont and went to Greenfield Elementary and just enjoyed being kids in Philadelphia. Sam had a huge dog (a German shepherd)named – I think – Beethoven.
I have no idea what Sam has been doing lately nor what was going on in his head, but I know that I am sad about what happened. Even though I haven’t spoken to him in years, I lost a friend, a good friend, the kind of person who I shared memories with that can never be repeated or replaced.
I guess the positive side is that, in my head, Sam is always a 10 year old kid and will remain that way forever. I have a picture of the Fairmont Clippers baseball team from 1979 or 1980 and Sam is in the back row. That is how Sam will always remain in my mind.
One last remembrance from my parents. Whenever Sam was asked what he wanted (like for dinner) he always said, “a pound of twenties.”
I, too, grew up with Sam and went to Elementary School (Greenfield) and High School (Central) with him. He was the most charming, kind person for as long as I knew him. We lost touch after High School but I never stopped thinking about him and all of the fun we had as children. Sam would buy me a roll of Spearmint Life Savers on our way to Hebrew School every week and he attended all of my childhood birthday parties. I still have a heart necklace that he gave me for one of my birthdays. He also bought me tickets to a show one year – I think it was “A Chorus Line,” since he knew I loved musicals. I have many photos of Sam in my childhood photo album and would love to post them somewhere, if anyone has any suggestions. I wish I had kept in touch with him – he will be missed.
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