April 18, 2016
Source/Philadelphia Police Department
James Elijah Dickson of Kensington faces three charges of murder and related offenses, police said.
Police on Monday charged the man who barricaded himself in a Kensington home early Sunday morning with murder after three bodies were found at the scene.
James Elijah Dickson, 46, was apprehended by authorities and charged with three counts of murder, one count of attempted murder, two counts of aggravated assault and related offenses, police said.
One of the three people found dead in the home on the 600 block of East Westmoreland Street was identified as Edwin Laboy, 46, of the 200 block of East Westmoreland Street. Investigators also found the bodies of an unidentified female and an unidentified black male, police said. All three had been shot in the head.
A fourth victim, who was able to get out of the home, had suffered a gunshot wound to his arm; he was transported to Temple Hospital in critical condition.
Police gave the following account:
On Sunday, April 17, 2016, at about 3:53 a.m., 25th District and SWAT Unit officers responded to a radio call of a man barricaded in the home. Police dispatchers had take a call from man at that residence who allegedly said he had shot three people.
The man told the dispatcher he was not opening the door until the sun came up and that he had a weapon in hand, specifically a shotgun. Officers set up a perimeter and negotiated with the man by phone before the man exited the home and surrendered to police about 5 a.m., officials said.
