Firefighters found the victims after responding to a predawn house fire on Williams Avenue, where homicide detectives are now investigating.
PHILADELPHIA, PA — Two women died after they were found with gunshot wounds inside a burning East Mount Airy home early Monday, authorities said, prompting homicide and fire investigations into what happened inside the Williams Avenue residence.
Firefighters were called to the 8200 block of Williams Avenue shortly before 4 a.m. Oct. 12. Police said emergency crews were responding to reports of both a fire and a shooting at the property. The two women were found inside the home as firefighters worked to control the blaze. Their identities had not been released Monday morning.
Police said both women had been shot in the head. They were taken from the house and transported to Einstein Medical Center, where they were pronounced dead, according to local reports citing investigators. Authorities had not released their ages or said whether the women lived at the home.
The fire was brought under control at about 4:30 a.m., roughly 45 minutes after emergency crews were dispatched. One report described the blaze as a kitchen fire. Fire officials had not announced what caused it, and investigators had not said whether they believed the fire was deliberately set or how it may have been connected to the shootings.
Homicide detectives responded to the scene as investigators began working to establish a sequence of events. Police had not announced an arrest or publicly identified a suspect as of Monday morning. Authorities also had not disclosed a possible motive or said what may have happened before the women were shot.
The investigation unfolded as police dealt with a separate armed barricade situation several miles away in the Fox Chase neighborhood. Officers responded around 5 a.m. to the 7900 block of Oxford Avenue, where authorities said a man with a handgun was at the rear of a SEPTA bus. Passengers and the operator were reported to be off the bus as police surrounded the vehicle.
CBS News Philadelphia reported that investigators were examining whether the armed man on the bus was connected to the East Mount Airy double homicide. Authorities had not confirmed such a connection, and the circumstances surrounding the barricade remained under investigation Monday morning. No relationship between the man and the two women had been publicly established.
Several early reports differed on some details surrounding where the victims were formally pronounced dead, reflecting information released during the first hours of the investigation. Police reporting cited by multiple Philadelphia news outlets, however, said the women suffered fatal gunshot wounds and that homicide detectives were investigating their deaths.
Investigators had not released the victims’ names, identified a suspected shooter or determined the cause of the fire as of Monday morning. Philadelphia police and fire officials continued separate but overlapping investigations at the Williams Avenue home while detectives worked to determine whether the shooting, fire and Fox Chase police response were connected.
Author note: Last updated October 12, 2026.