My best buddy is a native of Allentown. Once a blue collar city -- Bethlehem Steel was next door in Bethlehem, PA -- plus a number of other factories. It was the subject of the Billy Joel song of the same name back in the 1980s.
Like so many other blue collar towns, including where I live, once the factories went under, the city declined. The working people went elsewhere to live and work, and now these cities and towns have more gimmedats and fewer taxpayers to support them. Then the criminal element takes over. This is possibly what has happened to precipitate this crime.
My prayers go up for the victims.