Philadelphia Journalist Who Shined Light on Marginalized Communities Is Fatally Shot in Home

Josh Kruger was shot seven times in the chest and abdomen

A Philadelphia journalist was fatally shot inside his home Sunday.

Police said Josh Kruger, 39, was shot seven times in the chest and abdomen around 1:30 a.m. inside his home on the 2300 block of Watkins Street in the Point Breeze neighborhood.

Kruger was transported to Presbyterian Hospital where he died at 2:13 a.m..

Deputy Police Commissioner Frank Vanore said there were no signs of forced entry.

“Either the door was open, or the offender knew how to get the door open,” he said, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported. “We just don’t know yet.”

Vanore said that after he was shot, Kruger ran outside for help, according to the Inquirer.

No arrests have been made, police said. Police found no weapon at the scene.

On his website, Kruger described himself as a “writer and communications expert known for weaving his unique lived experience with homelessness, HIV, Philadelphia’s ‘street economy,’ trauma, and poverty throughout his poverty and writing.”

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According to the website, Kruger had previously worked as a spokesperson for City Hall before “returning to journalism in 2021.”

“His writing has spurred government into action and shed light on communities and issues sometimes overlooked by traditional media,” the website states.

He also was a "militant bicyclist, Anglo-Catholic Episcopalian and parishioner at St. Mark’s Church on Locust Street, and lives with his best friend, his senior cat with one tooth named Mason,” the website states.

In a statement, Mayor Jim Kenney said he was "shocked and saddened" by Kruger’s death. "He cared deeply about our city and its residents, which was evident in his public service and writing," Kenney said. "Our administration was fortunate to call him a colleague, and our prayers are with everyone who knew him."

District Attorney Larry Krasner said in a statement Monday that Kruger “lifted up the most vulnerable and stigmatized people in our communities – particularly unhoused people living with addiction.”

“Many of us knew Josh Kruger as a comrade who never stopped advocating for queer Philadelphians living on the margins of society,” the District Attorney’s LGBTQ+ Advisory Committee said in a statement Monday. “His struggles mirrored so many of ours — from community rejection, to homelessness, to addiction, to living with HIV, to poverty — and his recovery, survival, and successes showed what’s possible when politicians and elected leaders reject bigotry and work affirmatively to uplift all people. Even while Josh worked for the Mayor, he never stopped speaking out against police violence, politicized attacks on trans and queer people, or the societal discarding of homeless and addicted Philadelphians."

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