Philadelphia police released disturbing video footage that shows a group of teenagers using a traffic cone to attack an elderly man, who died the following day after the ambush.
On Friday 24 June at approximately 2.38am, in the 2100 block of Cecil B Moore Avenue in Philadelphia, a group of young people were seen in surveillance footage attacking 72-year-old James Lambert.
In the footage, released by the Philadelphia Police Department on Friday, three girls and four boys can be seen striking the victim with several objects, including a traffic cone, and knocking him to the ground.
The victim is blurred out in the footage captured by surveillance cameras on the northern Philadelphia streets, but it was confirmed by officers that he suffered a head injury in the attack.
He was taken to hospital shortly after the ambush and later died after succumbing to his injuries, police reported.
“The teens struck the victim several times with objects, knocking the victim to the ground causing injuries to the head,” the police said in a statement shared online.
Separate security footage shows the group of young people, described by officers to be in their early to mid-teens, regrouping after the attack, with one of the young boys seeming to act out the assault that had unfolded minutes before.
Police are hoping that the newly released footage, plus the addition of a $20,000 reward for anyone who can offer information about the suspected assailants, will help generate new intel in the case.
In the video footage, officers provide zoomed-in images of the teens captured on the surveillance cameras, providing no added specifics about their identities apart from the fact that one of the suspected attackers has a patch of blonde hair.
The family of Lambert, who went by “Simmie”, is reportedly “heart broken” about the passing of the 72-year-old and told NBC 10 Philadelphia that they had seen the man only hours before the deadly attack took place.
“They’re in disbelief a group of kids did this,” said NBC 10 reporter Danny Freeman.
Police are urging anyone with information on the attack to call 911 or send an anonymous tip by phone, text or online.
