Seconds before an off-duty Philadelphia police officer was shot and killed outside a Southwest Philadelphia nightclub, he was involved in a confrontation with the man who police believe fired the fatal shot, according to a surveillance video under review by department investigators.
The video captures a previously unseen part of the encounter that preceded the Aug. 16 killing of Officer Alhassane Barry, 29. But it does not show the shooting itself, leaving critical questions unanswered.
Police spokesperson Sgt. Eric Gripp confirmed Friday that the department is reviewing the video as part of its investigation. But he declined to comment further, citing an “active homicide investigation.”
No charges had been filed against the alleged shooter as of Friday afternoon.
The newly surfaced video footage, which was obtained and reviewed by The Inquirer, appears to show Barry leaving Nipsey’s Hookah Lounge with the man police have identified as a suspect in the killing and a third man who has not been publicly identified.
Barry is seen in the video moving toward the alleged shooter, who is then struck twice in the head by the third man. The blows appear to knock him out of the camera’s view.
Barry and the third man then run in the same direction, also disappearing off screen.
A few seconds later, Barry comes back into view, falling onto the sidewalk outside the nightclub. He appears to be bleeding from a gunshot wound to his abdomen.
Police had said they responded to a report of gunfire shortly before 4 a.m. Aug. 16 on the 7200 block of Elmwood Avenue. Officers found Barry and a 35-year-old man suffering from gunshot wounds.
Both were taken to Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, where Barry was pronounced dead at about 8 a.m. The other man, who had been shot multiple times, was critically injured.
It was unclear Friday whether the 35-year-old victim was one of the men in the surveillance camera footage.
The footage comes as investigators try to determine what led to the shooting of the off-duty officer and whether the circumstances warrant criminal charges against the man police believe fired the fatal shot.
Two law enforcement sources with knowledge of the investigation said Friday that self-defense had become part of the discussion about whether charges would be appropriate. The sources, who were not authorized to speak publicly about the case, said the investigation had also not yet been referred by police to the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office for review.
Police previously said that Barry, the other critically injured victim, and the suspected shooter had been inside the after-hours lounge before the shooting. The men exchanged words inside, Deputy Commissioner Frank Vanore said earlier this week, and the verbal confrontation continued after they went outside. Police said the altercation then became physical before the men were separated and the suspect opened fire.
The newly surfaced video appears to capture at least part of that physical confrontation. The video does not show what happened before the men exited the club. And because the shooting occurs off camera, it does not show the moments in which the man fired his gun.
Investigators recovered a firearm and eight spent 9mm shell casings at the scene.
Barry had been a Philadelphia police officer for two years and was assigned to the 12th District in Southwest Philadelphia. Before joining the department, he served for a decade in the Pennsylvania National Guard, including a two-year deployment to Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, and left the Army as a sergeant, according to an Army spokesperson.
His killing prompted a funeral attended by more than 100 people at the Fouta Islamic Center of Philadelphia on Monday. Mourners and fellow officers remembered Barry as a young man devoted to public service.
The Philadelphia Cycling Classic is back after a decade-long hiatus, bringing loads of cycling fans, events, and road closures along with it.
The race, which dates back to 1985, begins and ends on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. It loops up through Fairmount Park to the grueling “Manayunk Wall,” and back down for a finish line evoking the Tour de France’s conclusion at the Champs-Élysées in Paris.
The marquee race takes place on Sunday, but there’s a weekend full of events leading up to it. Here’s what you need to know:
Saturday road closures
The racing begins at 9 a.m. on Saturday with the Philadelphia Cycling Classic Amateur Time Trial, an eight-mile individual event. Martin Luther King Drive will be closed from Eakins Oval to Falls Bridge beginning at 8 a.m. Sedgley Drive between Girard Avenue and Poplar Drive will be closed from noon until the end of the event.
The weekend’s free fan fest also begins Saturday, running from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday. It will take place near the Iroquois Sculpture at Eakins Oval.
Sunday road closures
Plan ahead if you need to drive near the 14.4-mile path for the main women’s and men’s races, beginning at 8:30 a.m. and noon, respectively, and the morning charity ride, which begins at 6:30 a.m.
The following road closures will take effect from 3 a.m. until 10 p.m. on Sunday.
Near the Benjamin Franklin Parkway:
Benjamin Franklin Parkway from 17th Street to Eakins Oval (all lanes)
Eakins Oval (all lanes)
I-676 ramps at 22nd Street
I-76 eastbound off-ramp at Spring Garden Street
Spring Garden Tunnel
Rear of Philadelphia Museum of Art — Anne d’Harnoncourt Drive
1900 block of Race Street
1800 and 1900 blocks of Vine Street
Park Towne Place between 22nd and 24th Streets
2000 and 2100 blocks of Winter Street
Spring Garden Street between Pennsylvania Avenue and 31st Street
All roads from Arch to Spring Garden Streets, 18th to 22nd Streets (access maintained for residents)
All roads from Arch Street to Fairmount Avenue, 22nd to Corinthian Streets (access maintained for residents)
23rd Street between Pennsylvania Avenue and Eakins Oval
22nd Street between Winter Street and Pennsylvania Avenue
21st Street between Winter Street and Pennsylvania Avenue
20th Street between Arch Street and Pennsylvania Avenue
19th Street between Callowhill and Cherry Streets
16th, 17th, and 18th Streets between Arch and Spring Garden Streets, if public safety conditions warrant
1600 and 1700 blocks of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, if public safety conditions warrant
Cyclists speed past the Philadelphia Museum of Art on their first lap in the Philadelphia International Championship on June 11, 2006. Rider Greg Henderson won the race.David Maialetti / Staff Photographer
Fairmount Park:
Kelly Drive (all lanes)
Waterworks Drive
Reservoir Drive
Lemon Hill
Sedgley Drive between Girard Avenue and Kelly Drive
Poplar Drive between Girard Avenue and Kelly Drive
MLK Drive from Falls Bridge to Eakins Oval
Manayunk and Roxborough:
Ridge Avenue between Kelly Drive and Hermit Street
Main Street between Ridge Avenue and Green Lane
Levering Street between Main and Tower Streets
Cresson Street between Levering and Cotton Streets
Lyceum Avenue between Tower and Mitchell Streets
Pechin Street between Green Lane and Roxborough Avenue
Roxborough Avenue between Mitchell and Terrace Streets
Manayunk Avenue between Roxborough Avenue and Osborn Street
Rector Street between Terrace and Pechin Streets
Pensdale Street between Terrace and Lauriston Streets
Kingsley Street between Manayunk Avenue and Lauriston Street
Salaignac Street between Manayunk Avenue and Lauriston Street
Terrace Street between Dawson Street and Ridge Avenue
Vassar Street from Ridge Avenue to Cresson Street
Mitchell Street from Connaroe to Martin Streets
Additional streets: unit blocks of Shurs Lane, Jamestown Street, Pensdale Street, Roxborough Avenue, Grape Street, Levering Street, Gay Street, Carson Street, Rector Street, Cotton Street, and Connaroe Street, and the 300 block of Burnside Street
SEPTA detours
The following SEPTA bus routes will be detoured through Kelly Drive, Manayunk, and Roxborough beginning at 4 a.m. Sunday: 7, 9, 27, 32, 33, 38, 43, 48, 49, 52, 60, 61, 65, 82, 124/125, K.
For information on specific route changes, visit www.septa.org.
Another round of rain showers is expected Saturday, with potential flooding into Saturday night, but it shouldn’t be as intense as last weekend.
Multiple rounds of rain are possible Saturday, with most of the region expected to see up to an inch of precipitation, according to AccuWeather. A chance of thunderstorms will creep onto the horizon starting after 4 p.m.
While the rain is expected to continue into the night with a chance of flooding on streams and ponds, there likely won’t be devastating flash floods, said AccuWeather meteorologist Matt Benz.
“Certainly, just given the amount of rain that we’ve seen as of late, it doesn’t take a lot of rain to create flooding issues, so there could be some low-end flooding concerns tomorrow,” Benz said.
Most areas across the region received over an inch of rain on Thursday, with some places getting more than three inches.
“While a strong to severe thunderstorm can’t be ruled out completely, the threat for damaging winds/tornadoes/hail is much lower compared to what we saw Thursday,” weather service meteorologists said in a forecast discussion.
Despite the above-normal precipitation over the summer months, the region had experienced 16 consecutive months of below-average precipitation totals leading up to June. Most of the Philadelphia region is classified abnormally dry, with parts of the suburbs in moderate drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. Sunday’s rain ended the first seven-day period without measurable rain in Philly in two months.
In addition to Thursday’s rain, a tornado touched down in Dover, Del., toppling trees that closed streets and causing widespread power outages. Power has been restored, but crews were still clearing debris from affected areas in Dover.
Sunday brings another chance of showers on and off throughout the day, especially in the afternoon. Benz advised residents to get their errands done in the morning on Saturday and Sunday to avoid showers.
The forecast is similar for folks headed down the Shore, as Saturday brings an increased chance of rain showers in the afternoon and evening. Sunday should be drier in the morning, but beachgoers could see a chance for afternoon rain showers or thunderstorms, Benz said.
Fair weather is expected to return early next week.
Think you know your news? There’s only one way to find out. Welcome back to our weekly News Quiz — a quick way to see if your reading habits are sinking in and to put your local news knowledge to the test.
Question 1 of 10
What’s SEPTA’s name for its new bus route changes and updates?
CorrectIncorrect. XX% of other readers got this question right.
This weekend, the region’s transit agency will roll out the first phase of its New Bus Network, the bus system’s first significant update since the agency was formed in the 1960s. Once dubbed Bus Revolution, the project began in 2021 after transit agencies around the country saw massive declines in ridership. SEPTA’s Bus Revolution was set to launch in 2025 but faced significant community pushback and coincided with the state funding crisis that halted many planned transit initiatives. Two years after being shelved, a slimmed-down version of the plan has a new name and a new approach.
Question 2 of 10
In an interview with Kevin and Michael Bacon about their Philly roots, Kevin revealed he indulges in this treat, which he’ll snag at Wawa, every time he’s in town.
CorrectIncorrect. XX% of other readers got this question right.
“I go to Wawa and get a Tastykake Jelly Krimpet,” Kevin said. “The secret to eating a Jelly Krimpet is you delicately peel back the cookie dough, and extract a jelly ball. You actually hold the jelly ball in your hand, and pop it in your mouth. And then you can eat the rest of it.”
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Question 3 of 10
A small town in this state will attempt to break Philly’s record for the world’s longest cheesesteak on Sunday:
CorrectIncorrect. XX% of other readers got this question right.
The bad news: Lewiston, Idaho, is coming for Philly’s newly established “longest cheesesteak” world record. The good news: It’s an unofficial attempt — preserving Philly’s Guinness honor — and the proceeds are going to charity, which is kind of hard to bash.
Question 4 of 10
Viral French musician Plumes, known for serenading wild animals around the world, took his talents to the Philadelphia Zoo. When he first arrived in the city on Tuesday, he greeted these animals first with a tune:
CorrectIncorrect. XX% of other readers got this question right.
He visited the zoo Tuesday — after running up the Rocky steps — and serenaded the tortoises ahead of sessions on Thursday and Friday, where he played for other animals.
Question 5 of 10
Crossing Broad reported that this store was keeping LeBron James jerseys behind the counter to avoid theft. But store managers told The Inquirer that wasn’t the case:
CorrectIncorrect. XX% of other readers got this question right.
A representative from the Dick’s Sporting Goods corporate offices, located in Coraopolis, Pa., confirmed that no jerseys were reported stolen. Jerseys were initially kept behind the checkout to boost sales, but are in the process of being moved to the floor. Some stores already have them on the floor.
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What is being proposed to replace the current site of the Walnut Gardens beer garden on Walnut Street and the previous site of three historic buildings demolished after fire damage?
CorrectIncorrect. XX% of other readers got this question right.
The proposed building is a two-story retail site with a roof deck. The property is owned by the Gridmark Group, which was founded by Ari Weber, a Brooklyn-based real estate investor. The building is being designed by Philadelphia-based JKRP Architects. After Weber acquired the property, he said he eventually planned to build a 30-story apartment building on the site. Now he has decided that conditions are not favorable for such a large-scale project.
Question 7 of 10
This local journalist’s likeness is at the center of an ongoing catfishing scheme, emailing authors and other personalities about being interviewed on their show — for a fee:
CorrectIncorrect. XX% of other readers got this question right.
A recent string of scams and catfish-style attempts, targeting stars and other media personalities, are using Philly’s own Terry Gross as the bait. Writer Bruce Vilanch says he was the latest victim. WHYY says it’s investigating.
Question 8 of 10
Philly is one of three finalist cities to host the 2028 Democratic National Convention. What are the other two?
CorrectIncorrect. XX% of other readers got this question right.
In addition to Philadelphia, the Democratic National Committee said it is also considering Denver and Boston on its narrowed short list of cities to hold the next presidential nominating convention. The announcement means that Atlanta and Chicago, which were on a previous list of five potential host cities, have been eliminated from contention.
Question 9 of 10
A new food vendor is replacing Poe’s at Human Robot’s Kensington and Brewerytown locations. Who is it?
CorrectIncorrect. XX% of other readers got this question right.
Poe’s will be replaced by Cantina La Martina, the acclaimed Mexican restaurant from James Beard-nominated chef Dionicio Jimenez and his wife, Mariangeli Alicea Saez. The move is both an expansion of the couple’s relationship with Human Robot — Cantina La Martina has been serving brunch, tacos, and enchiladas at the brewer’s Jenkintown location since 2024 — and a homecoming.
Question 10 of 10
Which local university will, for the first time, require most freshmen students to live on campus for the 2027-28 school year?
CorrectIncorrect. XX% of other readers got this question right.
Temple University will require freshmen under the age of 21 to live on campus, with certain exceptions for students living locally with parents or guardians and others facing financial hardship. The university’s decision comes as the school makes an effort to improve the first-year experience and stem a declining retention rate. It’s a significant change for a university that for much of its history was largely a commuter school and only transitioned to a major research university with an on-campus living community in recent decades.
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Seems like you’ve been skimming more than reading there, buddy. There’s always next week.
You’ve read some articles (or made some educated guesses) but we wouldn’t come to you first for our local news recaps. Better luck next week!
Do you work here? You’re a local news stan with the latest updates on Philly happenings. Your friends definitely ask you for summaries on what’s going on and it shows.
In the early hours of a summer Sunday morning, vapors snuck out of an overfilled oil storage tank and snaked through the hulking Gulf Oil Refinery smeared along the Schuylkill in Southwest Philly.
What happened next was so destructive, and so deadly,it was assigned a chilling and haunting label: “Refinery Holocaust.”
The overfilled storage tank, which at the time was being filled from a Venezuelan tanker, contained more than 70,000 barrels when the fire started.
The explosion at the sprawling refinery Gulf called Girard Point drew a massive response from local fire departments.
Teams coated the oil-slicked flames with firefighting foam, and the six-alarm blaze was declared under control just before 9 a.m.
Eight hours later, a second explosion rocked the refinery, spreading to more storage tanks and sending racing flames through waist-deep pools of water mixed with oil and chemicals and engulfing a group of firefighters standing in those pools.
The second explosion elevated the inferno to 11 alarms.
Ruin and ashes
Under thick clouds of charcoal-gray smoke a day later, three Gulf employees steered a rowboat over the toxic pools to shut off a valve that was spewing liquid naphtha. The highly flammable chemical used in the refining process was fueling the last fire, and the last dangerous threat.
On Aug. 26, nine days after the escaped vapor silently swept through the refinery and ignited a blaze that wreaked $10 million (or more than $60 million today) in damage, the last of the flames were finally and fully extinguished.
The Daily News noted that the occasion was celebrated by those in attendance with cigars and watermelon.
Investigators ultimately concluded that inattentive employees had let the tanks overfill, and the buildup of flammable vapors ultimately led to the explosions. The city cited and fined the corporation for code violations.
Many large storage tanks, the refinery’s office building, and an assortment of pipelines and processing units were wiped out.
Six firefighters died at the scene, two others succumbed later to severe burns, and more than 30 were injured — two critically — in what is considered one of the deadliest days in the department’s history.
“The tanks, the line — maybe you can replace them,” Bill Zahner, then a Gulf fire safety man, told the Daily News in 1975, “but the bodies you just can’t replace.”
Severe storms set off tornado and flood warnings on Thursday in the Philly region, and in some places turned the phrase “rush hour” into an oxymoron.
Intense thunderstorms took down trees and wires in parts of Chester County, and fallen trees blocked portions of heavily traveled Route 322 in Honey Brook, the weather service reported.
Streams came out of their banks, and flash flooded occurred in West Norriton and Lower Providence Townships, in Montgomery County, making “many streets” impassable.
A tornado warning had been issued for portions of Chester and Delaware Counties, but it was not known if a twister was sighted.
About 21,000 Peco customers were without power as of 8 p.m.
All of Philadelphia; areas to the west of the city, including the Main Line; northern Delaware; and in New Jersey along the Delaware River were under a flash-flood warning until 8:45 p.m.
Lines of storms gathered to the west and south of the region during the day with the approach of an eastward-moving front interacting with a volatile, energized atmosphere.
“It’s a pretty juicy air mass,” said Matt Benz, senior meteorologist for AccuWeather Inc. And more juice might be squeezed out of it over the next few days, especially Saturday.
It turns out that the front that set off the storms may return in a repurposed form during the weekend.
Disruptive storms came at a bad time
The storms arrived between 5 and 5:30 p.m. in the immediate Philly area, right when a lot of people likely would have been heading home.
The storms moved quickly, but the downpours were strong enough to set off flash-flood warnings.
The fact that the sun interrupted the afternoon gloom on Thursday didn’t help matters, meteorologists said. On a day when the air was so full of moisture and energy, that was about the last thing they wanted to see.
“It’s ironic, isn’t it,” said Joe Wegman meteorologist with the government’s Weather Prediction Center, in College Park, Md.
The solar heating likely provided a power jolt to an already charged atmosphere.
The outlook for the weekend
If you have outdoor plans Saturday, this is probably something you don’t want to read.
After the front clears the region, Friday should be a decent day, Wegman said.
But it’s likely to migrate back, this time as a warm front, said Wegman. Showers are possible Friday night, and might be tapping into a generous moisture supply on Saturday.
Said Benz, “I wouldn’t throw out the word washout, but it could be pretty wet on Saturday.” Steady rain is possible, as are more downpours Saturday afternoon into the night.
As for Sunday, you guessed it — another chance of showers.
“Who’s running now?” Krasner said at a Thursday news conference where investigators announced they had identified the suspect as 22-year-old Zymire Hughes — and said it was possible he had already fled Pennsylvania.
It was the latest development in a nightmare-fueled story that has garnered national attention as images and videos of a man harassing pedestrians in the babylike mask went viral on social media this week.
Krasner said his office has issued a warrant for Hughes’ arrest for assault and related crimes.
The charges stem from the Aug. 12 morning that a man in a Chucky mask harassed and scared more than a dozen people near City Hall, including a 40-year-old woman who Krasner said was “severely injured” when she fell while running from Hughes in fear.
In all, investigators said, Hughes is accused of harassing around 16 people between 5 and 5:30 a.m. that morning.
Police documented the behavior through a host of camera angles due to the large number of security cameras monitoring Center City streets.
They saw a masked Hughes begin the harassment near 10th and Chestnut Streets that morning, where he approached a man who appeared to cower on his knees in fear, said Capt. Jason Smith of the Central Detective Division.
After Hughes harassed others in the Center City area, authorities said, his behavior culminated when he chased the woman as she jogged near City Hall.
Hughes asked the woman if she was “ready to die” during the confrontation, according to Smith.
After the woman fled, Hughes went into a Dunkin’ Donuts store near 13th and Chestnut Streets. He then entered Suburban Station, Smith said, where two SEPTA transit officers told Hughes to remove the mask.
He lifted the mask slightly but did not remove it. He calmly walked away from the officers, surveillance footage shows.
“He does successfully evade them,” the captain said.
Hughes later rode SEPTA’s 33 bus to his apartment near 23rd and Venango Streets, surveillance footage shows.
But Smith said investigators believe Hughes may have already fled the state.
Detectives learned he left his apartment with packed bags two nights ago. It is possible he may have gone to Los Angeles or Las Vegas, where he has connections through an employer, Smith said.
Meanwhile, they continue to consider whether Hughes was motivated to film the stunt and post content on social media.
Detectives have linked two TikTok and one Instagram accounts to Hughes. But the accounts do not include posts related to his alleged behavior from last week.
Investigators also do not believe Hughes intended to physically harm those he harassed, they said, given that he did not produce a weapon during any of the interactions.
Krasner said that Hughes could not run forever, and that additional charges could come as investigators urge anyone harassed by Hughes that morning to come forward.
The young man is currently on probation in Philadelphia for a criminal case out of Montgomery County, Krasner said, adding that he considered Hughes’ behavior last week to be a violation of those conditions.
“You think it’s funny to scare people?” the district attorney said in a message directed to Hughes. “Well, get ready to get scared by us.”
Both astronomy and meteorology suggest that it won’t be long before these things decline in frequency, but in the meantime another flash-flood watch is in effect for the Philly region.
A tornado watch also was posted for Philadelphia and the neighboring Pennsylvania counties.
The National Weather Service watch spans from noon Thursday until 2 a.m. Friday, for the potential for rain rates of 2-to-4 inches an hour in areas along I-95 and South Jersey.
And the federal Storm Prediction Center has posted a severe-thunderstorm watch, in effect until 10 p.m., for storms that could kick up gusts approaching 60 mph.
“There could be multiple rounds of heavy rain over urbanized areas,” said Joe Wegman, a meteorologist with the government’s Weather Prediction Center. In advance of the anticipated main events, a blob of light rain moved through the region late Thursday morning.
Also, the federal Storm Prediction Center sees an outside chance of severe-level storms, those with gusts near 60 mph, and a 5% chance of tornadoes in and around Philly.
And those who have not had the good fortune of spending the last two months in heat-free and smokeless environments probably can skip the next paragraph.
The timing, ferocity, rain totals, and targets all remain uncertain.
What is the best estimate on the storm timing in Philly?
The higher-resolution models were suggesting that the likeliest time for storms to arrive in the Philly region would be between 2 and 3 p.m. Thursday, Wegman said.
The worst of it may hold off until 4 or 5 p.m., said Matt Benz, senior meteorologist with AccuWeather Inc.
The storms likely would back off between 6 and 7 p.m., but that timing could disrupt a peak commuting period.
“Why would we conveniently time these things?” Wegman quipped.
“There’s plenty of moisture coming up, and a front approaching from the west,” he said. “If the front stalls, the storms might linger longer than people want them to.”
Plus, renegade storms could race out ahead of the front, setting off precipitation earlier, he added, and that appeared to be case Thursday.
The weather service in Mount Holly said the “greatest risk” for severe storms would be between noon and 10 p.m.
But timing remains one of the most vexing challenges for severe-weather forecasting, says Bill Bunting, deputy director of the storm center, in Norman, Okla.
“I have seen remarkable progress,” said Bunting, who has been at it for 40 years, “but we’re nowhere near perfection. In the end, the science has its limitations.”
The forecast for the weekend and the rest of August
The storm experts have had plenty of practice around here this summer. So far, Philadelphia officially has recorded 21 thunderstorms since June 1, several more than normal.
It has also been a banner summer for smartphone alerts and assorted scare grams.
About 11 inches of rain has been measured at Philadelphia International Airport, roughly four inches above normal, since July 1.
That said, yes, both Chester County and the entire state of New Jersey remain under state-declared drought warnings, with residents asked to conserve water.
And drier times may be coming, or at least a reduced incidence of those late-day thunderstorms, said Brian Hurley, senior branch forecaster with the Weather Prediction Center.
The days are getting shorter, and the sun is losing some of the gas it uses to fuel convective storms, he said.
But all pumpkin spice aside, summer is not quite over, and shower chances are in the forecast into Sunday night.
Police are looking for a group of men who used firearms to steal a Lamborghini and a Porsche from an Old City parking garage early Thursday morning, authorities said.
The incident happened around 4:20 a.m. at a garage on the 300 block of Race Street.
Police said the robbery began when two men approached a parking booth with guns and threatened the attendant inside.
They then used a hand tool to crack the window and kick it in, police said. When the attendant fled through the door, one of the men held him up using a semiautomatic handgun.
The other suspect removed two sets of keys from the booth.
Police said the men were last seen leaving the garage in an orange or yellow Lamborghini and a dark gray Porsche.
A third suspect was waiting nearby in a dark-colored vehicle, police said.
The attendant was injured by glass on his left leg and was treated at Pennsylvania Hospital.
Police are investigating and urge anyone with information to submit an anonymous tip by calling 215-686-TIPS (8477).
He had received an email from WHYY’s Terry Gross, herself, asking to be interviewed on NPR’s Fresh Air.
“It was so articulate and so like her,” the writer told the Hollywood Reporter. She laid out talking points and a run of show, according to Vilanch. “It felt real.”
But when Vilanch jumped on their scheduled video call, Gross was nowhere to be found. It finally dawned on Vilanch: He had been scammed. And he was not alone.
A recent string of scams and catfish-style attempts targeting stars and other media personalities are using Philly’s own Gross as the bait. Vilanch says he was the latest victim.
“If somebody claiming to be Terry Gross contacts you for an interview, it is a scam,” the comedian said in a Facebook post last week. He encouraged other potential victims to contact NPR and WHYY.
Online forums reveal a number of recent catfishing attempts involving someone purporting to be Gross.
“These impersonation scams are increasingly common,” said Siwei Lyu, digital media forensics expert and director of the Institute for Artificial Intelligence and Data Science. “Authors are a particularly attractive target because an unexpected invitation from a prominent host or podcast can seem both flattering and plausible.”
It is unclear if one person is behind all of the Fresh Air-centered fraud or if multiple impostors are responsible. Lyu says scam scripts and techniques are easily shared, adapted, and copied, “so the same premise can be used by many unrelated actors.”
On a Facebook group for authors, a writer posted in July about being approached by Fresh Air and asked to donate money. Months earlier, psychologist Steven Pinker, author of The Better Angels of Our Nature, said he was similarly approached by “Terry Gross” via a fake Gmail account as part of a scam targeting authors.
I am targeted by several publishing scams a week, promoting book clubs, reading groups, influencers, publicity campaigns, list placers… all using AI-generated bullet points flattering my books. Yesterday it was "Terry Gross" (with a gmail, not https://t.co/5mhqQcYHlC email… https://t.co/uBFuvSQ5Wi
In Vilanch’s case, he said “Gross” asked him for money to support NPR’s nonprofit public radio efforts amid government cuts. He told the Hollywood Reporter that he thought the request was odd, but that enough credibility within the email chain had been established. So he went for it.
From there, the scammers prepped him for Fresh Air, sending interview questions and scheduling their virtual interview. When the big day arrived, Vilanch was greeted by two video boxes: a screen that read “NPR,” and one with a man who identified himself as “Mike,” the new interviewer. When Vilanch eventually bailed, he sent a final message, according to the Hollywood Reporter: “Whoever you are, I hope you enjoy the paltry sum that I sent.”
Then he reached out to NPR and WHYY. WHYY confirmed it was aware of the scams and investigating.
“WHYY, NPR and Fresh Air with Terry Gross & Tonya Mosley are aware of fraudulent emails in which individuals have impersonated Terry and members of the Fresh Air team attempting to deceive potential guests,” the news organization said in a statement. “As the article in The Hollywood Reporter mentions, other programs and podcasts have also been the subject of these scams.”
The Fresh Air situation is one of several podcast/radio scams targeting Hollywood. According to the Hollywood Reporter, Broadway actor Seth Rudetsky was targeted by a scammer posing as Nikki Glaser who solicited a podcast interview in exchange for a fee. Later, Rudetsky also received an invitation from someone supposedly working on Amy Poehler’s podcast, Good Hang.
In addition to money, some of the scams also target the victim’s social media accounts or login credentials.
Sportswriter Jemele Hill said someone once lied and claimed to be booking her for a new Facebook show hosted by Rob Dyrdek of Ridiculousness. She handed over her Facebook credentials. It took weeks to get them back, she wrote in an X post. “It’s a very sophisticated operation.”
In April, figure skater and personality Adam Rippon told a story on his podcast about being similarly catfished by someone purporting to be on Katie Couric’s podcast via Facebook Live. The follow-through scammed him out of his own Facebook credentials.
“I know I made a grave error,” he said. His Facebook account was ultimately suspended.
A spokesperson for WHYY added that Fresh Air cohost Tonya Mosley has been the named catfish in similar scams, imploring would-be guests to send money in exchange for a radio slot. As a nonprofit organization, WHYY says, it never requests payment for interviews, nor does it pay guests to be interviewed on any of its programs.
“Any communication asking a prospective guest to pay a fee — or offering payment for an interview while claiming to represent WHYY or Fresh Air — should be treated as suspicious,” the statement said.
It is unclear if any of the scams are connected. What they all have in common, though, is their apparent leverage of a celebrity figure along with heavy use of AI to capture the alleged host’s voice and flatter victims with deep-cut knowledge about their work. Lyu said generative AI’s rise in popularity and usage makes hoaxes like this even easier, allowing scammers to quickly personalize messages and operate at a greater scale.
“The technology is new, but the underlying strategy is classic social engineering,” Lyu said. “Establish trust through a recognizable identity, then use that trust to obtain money or account credentials.”
WHYY said it is concerned about its own brand and credibility being used in this case.
“We take the misuse of our journalists’ and programs’ names seriously and are concerned that scammers are exploiting the trust audiences and guests place in Fresh Air,”WHYY said. “We are working with law enforcement to address the situation.”
