Police investigate possible hate crime after killing of transgender woman in Philadelphia

The shooting comes amid an 'epidemic' of violence against transgender people in the US

The shooting comes amid an 'epidemic' of violence against transgender people in the US

Police in Philadelphia are investigating whether the fatal shooting of a transgender woman was a “hate crime”.

Local media reported that 22-year-old Kiesha Jenkins was assaulted and then shot dead by a group of males in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

“The decedent had just gotten out of a vehicle at that location, was assaulted by five or six unidentified males,” Philadelphia Police Captain James Clark told CBS.

Transgender rights campaigners have talked of an “epidemic” of violence directed at transgender people - with most of the victims being black or hispanic - in the US. They are unsure whether the rise in violence is directly linked to the increasing awareness of transgender people and the publicity created by people such as Caitlyn Jenner.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that 21 transgender or gender nonconforming people have been killed in the United States this year, according to statistics gathered by the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programmes.

“We'll talk to more people, and then we’ll get to the bottom of it. When the autopsy results come back, different things, and we'll put everything together and then from that we'll see if it’s classified as a hate crime or not,” said Mr Clark.

Detectives are now looking for the five to six people they believe are responsible for the fatal assault.