Man Charged With Murder in Philadelphia Might Be Serial Killer, Police Say

Philadelphia police are calling a man they took into custody a potential serial killer, according to WPVI.

Police arrested Derrick Jones, 21, on July 14 and charged him with three counts of murder. Now, police are investigating to see if there are more victims, WPVI reported.

"This is a totally random act of violence that we may never get to the bottom of," Capt. Jason Smith of the Philadelphia Police Homicide Unit said during a news conference July 15.

At around 10:30 p.m. on June 28, Zamir Syrus, 20, was found shot several times in the chest at Broad Street and Chelten Avenue in East Oak Lane after departing a SEPTA bus, according to WPVI. Then, at approximately 11 p.m. July 7, Tyheim Tucker, 21, and Justin Smith, 20, were found shot several times a block away from their West Oak Lane home.

Tucker and Smith had also just gotten off a SEPTA bus as they headed home, WPVI reported.

According to police, Jones got off the bus one stop after each of the victims so he could get ahead of them and kill them, according to WPVI.

"It gives me a little closure. It's good they got him because he was going to keep killing people," Zamir's mother, Janice Bryant, told WPVI.

Police used SEPTA surveillance to identify Jones. Officers then tracked him down at his grandmother's homee on the 6900 block of Forrest Avenue and arrested him, WPVI reported.

"This is such a jarring loss for our family, for Tyheim's family. These two boys were literally walking up the street on their way home. They were not causing any trouble," Justin Smith's sister, Alexis, told WPVI.