The mother of a Marine critically injured after being shot early yesterday morning during a robbery in North Philadelphia called the horror that befell her son "a random, senseless assault."

Christine Kidd, in a statement released by Temple University Hospital, said her son, Lance Cpl. Nicholas Green, 20, "is a wonderful young man who is very popular, with many friends."

He remained in critical condition last night at Temple.

Green, of Media, enlisted in the Marine Corps after graduating from Strath Haven High School in 2008. "Nick was a very good student," said Strath Haven's principal, MaryJo Yannacone. "He is a very serious, quiet, polite gentleman."

Yannacone said she heard that Green was back home on leave. He has friends at Temple University and was at a college party shortly before he was shot, she said.

Police, who did not identify Green by name, said that at about 1:40 a.m. yesterday, an armed robber accosted two men walking on 21st Street near Norris. The men refused to give the robber money, so he shot one victim - Green - once in the abdomen.

The robber is described as a black man, 5 feet 10 with a beard. He was armed with a silver handgun and wearing an orange hoodie. Tipsters can call Central Detectives at 215-686-3093.

Green's mother said her son is assigned to the Combat Camera Unit in Cherry Point, N.C. She said in the statement that he was about to be deployed overseas.

While in high school, Green was gifted in many ways, Yannacone said. "He was a very artistic student. He took all of our graphic-design courses," she said. "He ran track and field." He was also very involved in the class cabinet, which organizes class activities, dances and fundraisers.

She said Green had gotten involved with the Marines' youth program while in high school.

Police are looking for the person who shot an unidentified 23-year-old man who was sitting on steps on Judson Street near Norris just after midnight. He remained in critical condition at Temple University Hospital. Police reported no motive. Tipsters can call Central Detectives at 215-686-3093.

A 53-year-old man was shot in the head, shoulder and leg early Saturday morning after he got into an argument with another man at Rodman Street near 57th Street in West Philadelphia. He was pronounced dead at 1:48 a.m. at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. Police are awaiting the notification of relatives before releasing his identity.

In Germantown yesterday, a gunman opened fire on two boys at Greene Street near Wyneva around 4:30 a.m., striking a 16-year-old multiple times. He was taken to Albert Einstein Medical Center, where he was in critical condition. Another teenaged boy, whose age was unknown, was hit twice in the left shoulder and was in stable condition at Temple University Hospital.

At 5:12 a.m. yesterday, police responded to Rising Sun Avenue near Thelma Street in Feltonville, where they found a 30-year-old man bludgeoned to death. Officer Jillian Russell, a police spokeswoman, said the man had been beaten with an unknown object.

A 21-year-old man was in critical condition at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania after taking a bullet to his abdomen around 1:15 a.m. yesterday on Fernon Street near Point Breeze Avenue in Point Breeze.

The gunfire continued yesterday in Brewerytown when a man, believed to be about 25 years old, was shot once in the lower back and twice in the left thigh around 2 p.m. at 28th Street near Stiles Street. He was taken to Hahnemann University Hospital, where he was listed in critical condition. Russell said the motive of the shooting was unclear yesterday afternoon.

Russell said there have been no arrests in any of the cases.

About 12:45 a.m. Saturday, a 29-year-old man was critically injured after he was shot in a drive-by shooting on Aarons Way near Union Street, said Detective James Nolan IV.

Four minutes later, on 4th Street near Penn, a 48-year-old man who was sitting outside was shot in the buttocks by one of two men who approached him, Nolan said. A police source identified the victim as Lorenzo "Zoe" Powell.

About 1:55 a.m. Saturday, a man shot in the left shin walked into Crozer-Chester Medical Center and said he had been the victim of crossfire between shooters in a white car and a green car on Crosby Street near 13th. Police went to the area but could not find evidence of a shooting, Nolan said.

Later Saturday, police spotted a white 2007 Buick at 5th and Kerlin streets, believed to have been involved in the Aarons Way shooting. Police tried to stop the car, but it took off, then struck another car. Three men jumped out of the car and ran, with one exchanging gunfire with police. No one was hit, but a Chester officer fell and broke his arm. Police caught all three men in a shed.

Charged with aggravated assault on police and related offenses were Lamar Branche, 27, of Buist Avenue near 82nd Street in the Eastwick section of Philadelphia; Sterling Stockman, 33, of Chester, the alleged driver; and Wayne Vick, 28, of Chester. Police were still trying to determine if they had been involved in the Aarons Way shooting.

On Sunday, shortly after 4 a.m., a 22-year-old Chester man's car was shot up on Edgmont Avenue near 20th Street while he was inside, but he was not injured.

Then, about 3:30 p.m. that day, an 18-year-old man walked into Crozer-Chester with a leg wound and said he had been shot while walking on Edgmont near 20th, Nolan said. The man said he had first gone home because he didn't feel any pain. Police yesterday were trying to determine the relationship, if any, between this man and the one in the car.

Then, about 11 p.m. Sunday, two teens were shot at 8th and Sproul streets. Nolan said a 15-year-old boy was shot once in the shoulder and in both legs, and a 14-year-old was shot in his left leg. Police were still seeking the gunman.

It was there, in the waist-high weeds at Hope and Turner streets, that Liz Campbell spotted the decaying remains of a man in his 30s.

"She was going to the store with my daughter, and then she saw something," said Campbell's husband, Edward.

"She got on the phone and called police. It ain't the first time this happened out there."

Homicide Sgt. Frank Hayes said police learned about Campbell's grim discovery at 5:12 p.m.

Hayes said investigators were unsure of the cause of death and weren't identifying the victim.

A potentially disturbing story line had emerged earlier in the evening, according to a law-enforcement source.

The victim appeared to be a man who was reported missing by his family earlier in the day in Northeast Philadelphia's 15th District, the source said.

The family claimed to have received a threatening phone call from someone who was holding their relative for ransom, the source said.

Hayes, however, said it was unclear if the decomposed body was that of the man who had been reported missing.

The investigation, he noted, was still in the early stages.

As of 9 last night, investigators were still at the scene on Hope Street, a block barely wide enough to fit a cop car.

"Anything could go on out here," said Campbell, who lives in one of the two occupied houses on the block.

About five years ago, he said, a dead body was found stuffed in a container in a weedy lot next to his house.

Janis Bossert, whose house is situated behind the lot where the body was discovered, said she has two video cameras monitoring the area outside her house.

Police were examining her surveillance footage to see if someone had dropped the victim's body in the lot, which runs alongside a graffiti-covered brick building.

"It's a nice neighborhood," Bossert said, "but now I'm thinking back to last night, when I was out bringing in groceries by myself."