A Memorial Day weekend cookout ended in a double homicide in Philadelphia’s Wissinoming neighborhood. On the night of Sunday, May 29, 2022, 37-year-old Gerald Parks and his 9-year-old son Jamel Parks were seated in their blue 2019 Nissan Sentra on the 2100 block of Carver Street shortly after 10:30 p.m. when another vehicle pulled alongside and two gunmen fired at least 13 rounds into the car.

Both victims were shot multiple times. Officers took Gerald to Frankford Jefferson Hospital and Jamel to St. Christopher’s Hospital; both died that night. Detectives say the shooting appears to have been a case of mistaken identity, possibly tied to a dispute between men from nearby Larue and Carver Streets, with the assailants apparently mistaking the Parks’ car for their intended target.

Gerald Parks was a corporate manager at a local Pretzel Factory and is remembered by family as a loving father. No arrests have been announced. If anyone has information about the shooting or the vehicles involved, please share what is known with investigators.