Local journalist Josh Kruger fatally shot inside Point Breeze home

» READ MORE: UPDATE: Police are searching for a 19-year-old man they believe killed Josh Kruger

A Philadelphia journalist who advocated for some of the city’s most vulnerable residents was shot and killed inside his Point Breeze home early Monday in what detectives believe may have been a domestic-related killing.

Just before 1:30 a.m., police responded to reports of gunshots and screams on the 2300 block of Watkins Street. Outside, officers found Josh Kruger shot multiple times and collapsed on the sidewalk, said Deputy Police Commissioner Frank Vanore.

Officers rushed Kruger, 39, to Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, but his injuries were severe. He died just before 2:15 a.m.

Detectives believe someone entered Kruger’s home, then shot him at the base of his stairs, Vanore said. The shooter fled, he said, and Kruger ran outside seeking help from neighbors.

No arrests have been made, he said, and there were no signs of forced entry into the home. Police are reviewing surveillance footage outside the rowhouse, he said.

“Either the door was open, or the offender knew how to get the door open,” he said. “We just don’t know yet.”

Detectives believe Kruger’s death may have been the result of a domestic dispute or may have been drug-related, according to three law enforcement sources with knowledge of the case. The sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation, said police investigators recovered troubling text messages between Kruger and a former partner. Investigators also recovered methamphetamine inside Kruger’s bedroom, the sources said.

City leaders and community members took to social media Monday to grieve Kruger’s death and acknowledge the legacy of his work as a journalist. He loved cats and was proudly queer and openly HIV-positive. He had overcome a number of struggles in his life, including bouts of homelessness and addiction, and leveraged those experiences to fiercely advocate for and write on behalf of those communities.

“He knew he had a story to tell,” said Randy LoBasso, who worked with Kruger at Philadelphia Weekly. “He knew his past trauma could be used to help his audience see a situation in a way that no one else could show it to them.”

In recent months, he’d written on social media about a variety of alarming incidents at his home.

In April, he posted that an ex-partner had broken into his home. “The door was locked, so he had somehow obtained a copy of my keys,” he wrote. He had allowed the man, whom he’d known for years “before his troubles,” to stay at his house briefly after being released from jail. He said he was able to deescalate the situation and the man eventually left, and he changed his locks.

In August, someone threw a rock through his home window, he said. Then, about two weeks ago, he wrote on Facebook that someone came to his house searching for their boyfriend — “a man I’ve never met once in my entire life.” The person called themselves “Lady Diabla, the She-Devil of the Streets” and threatened him, he wrote.

Kruger was a former city spokesperson who advocated for more support for some of the city’s most vulnerable residents, including people experiencing homelessness, people in addiction, and the LGBTQ community.

He worked for the City of Philadelphia for about five years, overseeing the mayor’s social media platforms and policy campaigns, and acting as communications director and spokesperson for the city’s Office of Homeless Services.

Mayor Jim Kenney said in a statement that he was “shocked and saddened” by Kruger’s death.

“Josh cared deeply about our city and its residents, which was evident both in his public service and in his writing,” Kenney said. “His intelligence, creativity, passion, and wit shone bright in everything that he did — and his light was dimmed much too soon.”

In 2021, he returned to journalism and wrote freelance articles about the LGBTQ community, city and state politics, and other issues for outlets including The Inquirer, the Philadelphia Citizen, LGBTQ Nation, and Billy Penn.

He was HIV-positive and he fought to break the stigma around living with the virus. He often wrote for POZ magazine, a publication serving people with HIV/AIDS. He was an avid bicyclist, Anglo-Catholic Episcopalian, and a parishioner of St. Mark’s Church in Rittenhouse.

For a period of time, he was homeless and experienced a crystal meth addiction, he wrote, and relied on sex work, his Christian faith, and the kindness of others to survive.

“Make no mistake: I would not be alive today and living the life I have were it not for the charity and good works of human beings,” he wrote in 2017. “Yet, I am convinced with absolute certainty that there were also invisible forces around, behind, and within me, too.”

Kruger was never shy about his hardships, and was outspoken on social media, challenging city leaders and fellow journalists alike to be better in their responses to and reporting on various crises.

“He was real with you, you always knew where you stood with him,” said Dee Stanford, 32, a close friend.

Stanford said Kruger was there for her when she was going through recovery for an addiction about seven years ago. He offered thoughtful advice and was a caring listener, she said.

“He was able to use his past experience to help put things in perspective, but he never did it in a way that was competitive, and he never minimized what I was going through,” she said. “He would use his life as an example to say, ‘I’ve been there. I dealt with the worst. I lived, I survived. So I know that you will, too, no matter what happens.’”

LoBasso, a former colleague, said editing Kruger’s work “changed the way I wrote.” He was a storyteller “through and through,” he said, and persevered through the industry even after being laid off three times over the years.

“He could never quit; he’d already gotten so far,” LoBasso said.

Purchasing his home in Point Breeze a few years ago was one of his proudest moments, said friend George Basile, and reenergized his dedication to supporting those experiencing homelessness. To him, “owning a home was a testament to the salvation we can all achieve,” Basile said.

The charity others showed him during times of hardship influenced how he treated people — and pets — in his life. He often took in older, hard-to-adopt cats, including those with FIV, the feline version of HIV. His current companion and “best friend” was a one-toothed senior cat named Mason.

As of Monday afternoon, Kruger’s family and friends were working to find Mason a new home.

District Attorney Larry Krasner said in a statement that his office is working closely with police on the investigation.

“Josh Kruger lifted up the most vulnerable and stigmatized people in our communities — particularly unhoused people living with addiction,” Krasner said. “Josh deserved to write the ending of his personal story.”

Staff writers Anna Orso and Ryan Briggs contributed to this article.