By VALERIE RUSS
Philadelphia Daily News
Ranny Thon was a peacemaker who was trying to calm an angry man when he was shot and killed early Saturday in South Philadelphia, relatives said yesterday.
The man killed Thon, 24, and wounded three relatives: a 22-year-old man who was shot in the shoulder; a 24-year-old man who was shot in the thigh and back; and a 17-year-old female cousin, who was grazed in the stomach, police said.
Yesterday, the 17-year-old cousin was sitting on the front steps of a house on 8th Street, near Moyamensing Avenue, with relatives and friends. The young woman, who asked that her name not be used, translated for Thon's mother, who came to this country from Cambodia and spoke Khmer, when she appeared briefly at the front door.
"She said to let everyone know, 'I miss him and I love him very much and I feel like I am going crazy because my son died,' " the young woman said.
Thon and his relatives were shot as they stood outside Thon's aunt's house. The girl said she believed the shooter was also Cambodian. She said Thon and his siblings were born in the United States.
No arrests had been made as of last night.
The relatives kept candles burning at a sidewalk memorial that included incense, a bowl of noodles, a cup of beer and a white plastic chair filled with stuffed animals and a picture of Thon.
The 17-year-old cousin said Thon had tried to intervene when a man came by about 2:30 a.m. and began arguing with a couple who were out on the sidewalk with her male relatives.
The man left the block for about 10 minutes and when he returned, "he got mad because the guy he was arguing with had gone," the 17-year-old said.
As Thon tried to calm the man down, the gunman started shooting. Her three male relatives were shot outside and the teenager as she stood just inside the front door. "I just screamed and started crying," the girl said. "I didn't know I was hit until I got inside."
Philadelphia Daily News
Ranny Thon was a peacemaker who was trying to calm an angry man when he was shot and killed early Saturday in South Philadelphia, relatives said yesterday.
The man killed Thon, 24, and wounded three relatives: a 22-year-old man who was shot in the shoulder; a 24-year-old man who was shot in the thigh and back; and a 17-year-old female cousin, who was grazed in the stomach, police said.
Yesterday, the 17-year-old cousin was sitting on the front steps of a house on 8th Street, near Moyamensing Avenue, with relatives and friends. The young woman, who asked that her name not be used, translated for Thon's mother, who came to this country from Cambodia and spoke Khmer, when she appeared briefly at the front door.
"She said to let everyone know, 'I miss him and I love him very much and I feel like I am going crazy because my son died,' " the young woman said.
Thon and his relatives were shot as they stood outside Thon's aunt's house. The girl said she believed the shooter was also Cambodian. She said Thon and his siblings were born in the United States.
No arrests had been made as of last night.
The relatives kept candles burning at a sidewalk memorial that included incense, a bowl of noodles, a cup of beer and a white plastic chair filled with stuffed animals and a picture of Thon.
The 17-year-old cousin said Thon had tried to intervene when a man came by about 2:30 a.m. and began arguing with a couple who were out on the sidewalk with her male relatives.
The man left the block for about 10 minutes and when he returned, "he got mad because the guy he was arguing with had gone," the 17-year-old said.
As Thon tried to calm the man down, the gunman started shooting. Her three male relatives were shot outside and the teenager as she stood just inside the front door. "I just screamed and started crying," the girl said. "I didn't know I was hit until I got inside."
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