Investigators believe father of 7 executed in Germantown was victim of mistaken identity: Police
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – A case of mistaken identity adds to Philadelphia's growing gun violence crisis. A SEPTA Regional Rail conductor and father is one of the city's latest murder victims.
Police say 37-year-old Daniel Ruley, a father of seven, was shot and killed just before 1 a.m. Monday outside his home on Washington Lane.
"A man going in his house getting shot. That's crazy," Ruley's aunt said. "What are they going to do about this? When is it going to stop?"
Witnesses tell the police a black Sedan was parked outside the victim's home and waited for him to come out. Police say the shooter then ambushed Ruley, firing off at least 15 shots.
"Somebody exits a dark colored vehicle and opens fire on him," Philadelphia Police Department Homicide Captain Jason Smith said.
When police arrived at scene, they found his body on his front lawn.
"Witness statements indicate the rate of volume of fire from the handgun was in such a rapid succession that it sounded like a machine gun," captain Anthony Ginaldi said. "That brings us concern that this weapon may have been modified with the automatic sear on the back to produce that type of machine pistol."
The police tell CBS3 that a Ring camera on the victim's home captured the execution and will be key in locating the shooter.
"We believe that Mr. Ruley is completely innocent. He was mistakenly targeted we believe," Smith said.
On Monday afternoon his family gathered at his home. His sister-in-law remembers him as a family man. He was a father of seven - his youngest, a little girl.
"He loved his whole family. He wasn't into no trouble. He wasn't into the street he was just, he loved," sister-in-law Sharmaina Rush said.
Aside from his children, his family says he enjoyed working as a SEPTA conductor for 13 years.
"That job meant everything to him. He loved getting up and going to work," Rush said.
As police continue to investigate for answers Ruley's family is left with countless questions and fears.
"I fear for my family. I don't even know what that shooting was about," Ruley's aunt said. "We don't know whether they're going to come back or not. We don't even know what it is about. They just need to dig into this."