Students, parents, and Philadelphia residents alike are left stunned following the death of a Temple University student last week. Reports claim that after an attempted robbery went wrong, Sean Collington, a senior at the university, was left dead in a parking lot near campus. Soloff & Zervanos, P.C. is a Philadelphia law firm working around the clock to inform the city about the impacts of its crime and provide capable Philadelphia wrongful death attorneys to those in need.
Philadelphia and Temple University have recently expressed concern upon hearing news about a 21-year-old student that was shot and killed just steps away from campus last week. Samuel Sean Collington was a senior and political science student at the university. As Collington parked his car just a few blocks north of campus, Latif Williams openly fired on him, shooting him twice in the chest. Current reports claim that the motive for the shooting was an attempted robbery.
Collington was taken to Temple University Hospital where he was pronounced dead at approximately 2 p.m. the same day. The university acknowledged the incident, confirming that one of their students had lost his life in a homicide nearby. “Temple University is deeply saddened to confirm that a student was found… this afternoon with gunshot wounds,” the statement said, “[Collington] was initially in critical care, but was pronounced dead a short time later.” The spokesperson goes on to call the incident a “tragedy”, adding that their thoughts are with the community.
Collington was a democracy fellow in the Philadelphia City Commissioners and was active in the Eastern Pennsylvania political scene. He was remembered by his colleagues as a hard-working, intelligent student. “Samuel was an incredibly talented and engaged young man.” City Commissioner Omar Sabir wrote in a memorandum. “Samuel exemplified an incredible passion for engaging voters and was an indispensable member of our team.”
A Temple professor, Dr. Artemy M. Kalinovsky also remembered Collington for his intellect and potential. He remarked that Collington was in the first class Dr. Kalinovsky taught at the university. He continued, “with his inquisitive and sharp mind, he could have been a scholar, but he was also concerned with the problems of the here and now and doing something useful.” Collington was set to graduate in December of 2021.
The incident has initiated a period of reflection on the sheer number of homicides that have occurred in Philadelphia this year. Its previous record for most homicides was passed in 2021, with more than 500 shootings in the city as of late November.
While shootings plague Philadelphia, some law firms are working around the clock to ensure that families find justice for their family members impacted by criminal violence. Our Philadelphia wrongful death attorneys at Soloff & Zervanos, P.C. are ready to defend your family following such a horrific experience. Please consider calling our office at 215-929-7216 or by clicking here for more information.