Police shoot and kill armed man on Benjamin Franklin Parkway, officials say
Police shot and killed a man armed with a gun near 21st Street and the Benjamin Franklin Parkway Friday morning, officials said.
Philadelphia police shot and killed a man who they said fired a handgun on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway Friday morning, just a few blocks from the Philadelphia Art Museum.
Police responded to the intersection of 21st Street and the Parkway shortly after 11 a.m. after bystanders reported a man shooting in the area, said Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel.
No bystanders were struck. Police secured the area and attempted to talk to the man, who was armed with a revolver, through a bullhorn and defuse the situation, Bethel said.
“The individual is just continually pointing the weapon, waving the weapon, and waving the weapon multiple times, pointing it at the officers. The officers all backed away and tried to take as much cover as possible,” Bethel said.
Then, at some point, the man fired his gun, he said.
Two officers — one Philadelphia police officer and a SEPTA cop — then each fired their weapons once, striking the man, Bethel said. He was rushed to Jefferson University Hospital, where he died at 11:36 a.m., the commissioner said.
He said the incident was being investigated as potential suicide by cop.
Police did not release the identity or age of the man. Bethel said he appeared to be in his 50s.
A section of the Parkway has been closed to traffic as police continue to investigate.
At the scene, a gun lay under a bench.
The shooting unfolded as bystanders walked along the idyllic stretch of the city under clear blue skies.
A woman nearby, who asked not to be identified for privacy reasons, said she and her child were inside the Franklin Institute when someone came over the loudspeaker and told attendees to gather in the atrium and shelter in place.
This is a developing story and will be updated
