UPDATE (March 14, 10:50 a.m.): Police have identified both the suspect and the victim involved in the incident according to an updated story from 6 ABC. The suspect is 40-year-old Steven Simminger from Media, Pa. According to the Delco Times, Simminger was living as a homeless man at the time of the incident. The victim is 24-year-old Colin McGovern from Churchville, Pa.
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It's March. The hockey world is in the midst of a playoff race. St. Patrick's Day is right around the corner. Many Philadelphia natives were out this weekend for an early celebration of the holiday.
But things turned violent for one Flyers fan reportedly at the hands of a New Jersey Devils fan.
According to Nydia Han of 6 ABC, a 24-year-old man from Bucks County was stabbed to death in Rittenhouse Square. The suspect was wearing a New Jersey Devils cap and reportedly asked the victim if he was a Flyers fan before starting to attack the victim. The incident occurred shortly after 3 a.m. Sunday morning.
Suspect asked victim if he was a Flyers fan before stabbing him to death just off Rittenhouse square. Suspect was wearing NJ Devils cap.
— nydiahan6abc (@nydia_han) March 13, 2016
The victim died of his injuries at Hahnemann Hospital. The suspect, described as a 5'8" African American male, approached the victim and after a verbal altercation, stabbed the victim in the stomach before fleeing onto South 19th Street. The suspect is reportedly in custody after an extensive police search in the hours that followed the incident.
The full report from Action News can be seen here.
Rittenhouse Square is highly regarded as a safe place to live within the city. Flyers captain Claude Giroux owns a condo in the area.
Our thoughts and prayers are with the victim and his family.
Kevin Durso is managing editor for Flyerdelphia. Follow him on Twitter @Kevin_Durso.
