Police say the man later died at the scene after turning the gun on himself.
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. — A 25-year-old woman was hospitalized in serious condition after police say her former partner broke into a Germantown home around 4 a.m. and shot her multiple times, then fatally shot himself as relatives and young children slept inside.
The shooting shook a block of rowhomes near West Milne Street and turned a family’s attempt to find safety into a crime scene. Investigators are treating the case as an attempted murder-suicide between former partners, and the woman’s father said she had arrived at his home about a day earlier to leave the relationship.
Police said officers were called to the 300 block of Milne Street in the Germantown section of Philadelphia after reports of gunfire in the early morning hours. Inside the home, investigators found the woman on an upper floor with several gunshot wounds. She was taken to Temple University Hospital, where relatives said she was in intensive care and underwent surgery. A 26-year-old man was found nearby with a gunshot wound to the head and was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.
The woman’s father, who identified her as Karen Sumter, told reporters he was in the house when the man entered. Sumter had come to the home to get away from her boyfriend, the father said, and the family believed she was trying to end the relationship. “He shot my daughter,” the father said, describing the moment he realized she had been hit. “He turned the gun and shot himself.”
The father said the man got into the home by climbing a fence and breaking a window while people inside were asleep. He described waking to screaming and rushing into the hallway as the intruder moved upstairs. The father said the man pointed a gun at him and his son and threatened them, then told the family he was there to take Sumter and the children. Moments later, the father said he heard several shots and found the man on the floor.
Authorities said several children were inside the house at the time. Police described a group of young kids, ranging from an infant to elementary school age, who were asleep during the shooting. The father said the children are all his daughter’s and that she shares three of them with the man. Chief Inspector Scott Small of the Philadelphia Police Department said investigators believe the two were once in a relationship and had children together, and detectives are working to sort out the man’s movements before he arrived at the home.
Small said the scene and witness statements supported the attempted murder-suicide assessment. Investigators said they recovered a semiautomatic handgun near the man. Police said the woman did not live at the home and had been staying with family, and the man also was not believed to live there. Detectives continued interviewing relatives and other potential witnesses to build a timeline of how the man located the house and how long he was inside before shots were fired.
The father said he had concerns about the relationship for years and believed it had turned violent. He said the couple had been together for several years and argued before his daughter left. In an interview, he described what he said was a pattern of conflict and control, including his claim that the man tracked her movements. “He had a tracker on her car,” the father said, adding that the man arrived in the night and forced his way in.
Advocates who work with victims of domestic violence said violence can escalate when a person attempts to leave a partner who wants to maintain control. Melissa Landsmann, executive director of Women In Transition, said that period can be especially dangerous when an abuser believes power is slipping away. Jordan Kelso, senior director of programs at the Domestic Abuse Project, said many people try repeatedly to end an abusive relationship, and support systems often become involved as families look for ways to stay safe.
Police said no charges are expected because the suspected shooter is dead, but the investigation remains open as detectives document evidence, confirm the identities of everyone in the home, and track the woman’s condition. A police spokesperson said updates would depend on the hospital’s assessment and the completion of witness interviews and forensic work, including ballistics testing of the recovered handgun.
As daylight returned to the block, relatives said the family was focused on Sumter’s recovery and the children who were in the house. “Just waiting for my daughter to come home,” the father said. Police said the woman remained hospitalized over the weekend as investigators continued reviewing the case.
Author note: Last updated February 22, 2026.