Aspiring Campaign Volunteer Shot Beside Candidate In Philly

PHILADELPHIA, PA -- A man who was learning more information about how to volunteer for the campaign of State Representative Chris Rabb was shot dead on Sunday afternoon, Rabb's office confirmed.

The shooting occurred on the 8000 block of Temple Road in the Cedarbrook section of Philadelphia at about 3:30 p.m., according to 6ABC.

A man walked up to Alex Cherry, 21, who was talking to Rabb, and shot him "execution style" in the head," the NBC 10 reports.

Another man who was friends with Cherry was reportedly shot later in the day nearby, and police believe the two events are connected.

"My thoughts right now are with the families of the young men whose lives have been tragically cut short today," Rabb said in a statement.

Rabb, a Democratic state Congressman in the 200th district, is running for re-election.

"One of these young men stood before me just hours ago," Rabb said. "He was enthusiastic about the political process. My campaign team and I were engaging him about the upcoming elections. We made a connection with him. He was looking forward to working at his local polling place on Tuesday. This impressed us and we were in the process of encouraging him to join our campaign. Moments after he gave us his contact information he was murdered."

After shooting Cherry once, the gunman reportedly started to walk away, but then returned and shot him twice more.

Elijah Frazier, 18, was shot four hours later and farther down the 8000 block on Temple Road.

Rabb is on the faculty of the Institute for Strategic Leadership at Drexel University's LeBow College of Business.