Update 4/17/25: The 77-year-old was identified as Olatunji Bolaji of Norristown, who worked as an Uber driver.
A man, 77, was fatally shot while picking up a 22-year-old man outside a Hookah lounge in Center City early Wednesday morning, police said. The younger man was critically injured.
The 77-year-old stopped his SUV outside the Byblos hookah bar on the 100 block of South 18th Street — just north of Rittenhouse Square — shortly before 2 a.m., police said. Another vehicle pulled up behind the SUV and two people got out. At least one of them began shooting at the SUV after a physical altercation with the 22-year-old, CBS reported.
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The 77-year-old man was struck in the head, and continued driving to 17th and Chestnut streets, where he crashed into a light pole, police said. The younger man, who was in the back seat, was shot in the arm, leg and abdomen. At least four shots were fired, investigators said.
The 77-year-old man was pronounced dead at the scene, police said. The 22-year-old was taken to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in critical condition.
The relationship between the two men is unclear, investigators said. The 77-year-old's SUV was not clearly marked as a rideshare vehicle.
Private surveillance footage caught the shooting on video, police said. Investigators are searching for a dark-colored Jeep Grand Cherokee with possibly Massachusetts license plates on the front and back.
