A Penn State student preparing for his senior year was shot and killed while trying to stop robbers taking his phone — which was then just tossed under a car.
Billy Schmidt, 22, was seen in surveillance footage being held up steps from his family’s home in south Philadelphia around 1:30 a.m. Saturday — with a gunshot ringing out soon after he was heard pleading, “Give me back my phone.”
He was rushed to the Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, where he succumbed to his injuries.
“Over a phone. It’s abhorrent,” Ezra Roulinavage, who lives near the shooting, told NBC 10. “It’s just unbelievable that someone would kill someone over a phone.”
Schmidt’s father, Bill, said his son had been heading home from watching the NBA Finals with friends when he was killed for the phone, which he eventually found discarded under a car.
“He was a really good person who cared about everybody and never hurt or bothered a soul, never bothered anyone and for him to get shot like that is a travesty,” the grieving dad told ABC 7.
“I’m shocked when they stole his phone that he chased them,” the grieving father added. “Supposedly when he got to the corner another came out and he shot him.”
No arrests have been made yet over the shooting, with the investigation ongoing.
Family and neighbors described Schmidt as a “really good kid” who was studying journalism at Penn State and set to graduate in December.
“We are heartbroken this morning to learn of the tragic death of William Schmidt, and we share are deepest condolences with his family and friends. William was a fourth semester student from Philadelphia studying digital journalism and media at Penn State World Campus,” the school said in a statement.
One neighbor urged the public to help identify the men involved in Schmidt’s death to give his family closure.
“I want the kid that shot Billy to be found,” the neighbor told NBC 10. “If anyone has any information or recognizes anything about the kids, I would love for them to come forward and give his parents some justice.”
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