5 people injured after man ‘intentionally’ crashes vehicle into police building in Northeast Philly
Police said the driver, who was in custody, had been involved in an earlier "domestic situation" with his father that led to a police interaction Tuesday morning before the crash.
Five people were injured after a man “intentionally” crashed a vehicle into the front lobby of a police building Tuesday afternoon in Northeast Philadelphia, police said.
The crash happened just after 1:40 p.m. at the 2nd Police District building at 7306 Castor Ave. in the Rhawnhurst section of Philadelphia, police said.
“At the time of the collision, five individuals were inside the lobby awaiting police assistance. While the impact caused significant damage and concern, none of the victims sustained serious injuries,” the police department said in a statement.
“Preliminary investigations revealed that officers had previously encountered the suspect earlier that day, when they responded to a reported disturbance involving the man and his father at approximately 11:45 a.m.,” the department said.
The driver, who was not personally armed with a gun or other weapons, exited his vehicle and was arrested, Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel said at a news conference, 6ABC reported.
Bethel said police had responded earlier to a “domestic situation” involving the man and his father, but police took no further action and returned to their patrol.
“There’s nothing that would indicate that the individual would be mad at police,” Bethel said.
Video of the crash shows the man was driving his vehicle south on Castor Avenue and then made a “very hard right” turn into the police building, Bethel said.
“Based on what we see, it’s clearly an absolute deliberate act,” Bethel said.
The police bomb squad searched the vehicle and found nothing dangerous, Bethel said.
Police were planning to execute search warrants for some locations as part of the investigation, Bethel said, adding that the FBI was assisting the case.
Bethel said he did not have a motive for what happened.
“I don’t know what could have caused that other than somebody who’s in a different state of mind,” Bethel said.
