Josh Kruger, a 39-year-old Philadelphia-based journalist and activist, was shot and killed in his home early Monday morning.
Kruger was shot seven times around 1.30am on 2 October and collapsed in the street after trying to contact someone for help. He was pronounced dead shortly after at a nearby hospital.
Police believe the shooter knew how to get in or the door to Kruger’s home was unlocked as there were no signs of forced entry into the home, according to the Associated Press. No arrests have been made and no weapons have been recovered, but the police suspect the killing is domestic or drug-related. An investigation is ongoing.
Kruger had publicly noted of several incidents at his home preceding the shooting, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported, including a former partner breaking into his home in April and a rock being thrown through his window in August, and someone came to Kruger’s home two weeks ago whom he didn’t know looking for their boyfriend and threatening Kruger.
Kruger wrote about his own experiences with substance abuse and homelessness, contributing as a journalist to the Philadelphia Weekly, Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia City Paper.
“We should feel offended or unsettled when we hear the word homeless not because we stigmatize those experiencing it but because we are ashamed at our own moral culpability in its existence and the continued harm it inflicts on the most vulnerable,” Kruger wrote in a post two weeks ago on social media.
He worked for about five years as a spokesperson for the city of Philadelphia, handling the mayor’s office social media platforms and communications duties for the office of homeless services, leaving in 2021 to pursue work as a journalist.
“Josh Kruger lifted up the most vulnerable and stigmatized people in our communities – particularly unhoused people living with addiction. As an openly queer writer who wrote about his own journey surviving substance use disorder and homelessness, it was encouraging to see Josh join the Kenney administration as a spokesperson for the office of homeless services,” said the Philadelphia district attorney, Larry Krasner, in a statement. “Josh deserved to write the ending of his personal story. As with all homicides, we will be in close contact with the Philadelphia police as they work to identify the person or persons responsible so that they can be held to account in a court of law.”
