Man shot by Philadelphia police in Kensington
Police brought the man to Temple University Hospital, where he is in stable condition. Police said he had struggled with a sergeant over a gun and was raising the gun when the sergeant shot him.
A man was shot by a Philadelphia police sergeant in Kensington Saturday, police said.
Police said the shooting happened after the man struggled with the sergeant over control of a gun and that the man was raising the gun when the sergeant shot him.
At approximately 10:22 a.m., the sergeant was driving a police car when he was flagged down by a man who pointed out another man with whom he had been involved in “a disturbance,” and indicated that the man was armed with a gun. The sergeant approached this man regarding the disturbance.
“During the encounter, a physical altercation briefly occurred between the defendant and the complainant before the defendant fled on foot southbound on Kensington Avenue,” police said in a statement released Saturday evening.
Police said the sergeant pursued the man on foot into the rear area of a property on the 2800 block of Kensington Avenue.
“During the foot pursuit, the defendant fell while in possession of a firearm,” the police statement said.
Police said a struggle then ensued over control of the weapon.
A preliminary investigation indicated that as the man began raising the firearm during the struggle, the sergeant discharged one round, striking the man in the wrist and chest, according to police.
Officers took the man to Temple University Hospital, where he was placed in stable condition, police said. No officers or other civilians were injured during the incident, police said.
Police said a gun was recovered at the scene. The preliminary investigation determined the gun was loaded with 11 live rounds in the magazine and one in the chamber.
Police said body-worn camera footage was activated during the incident, and video recovered from the area “depicts the defendant falling during the pursuit, dropping the firearm, retrieving it, and subsequently struggling” with the sergeant over control of the weapon.
The investigation remains active, with the Officer-Involved Shooting Investigations Unit, Philadelphia Police Department Internal Affairs, and the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office.
Police said that per department policy, the sergeant, who is 36 and is assigned to the Kensington Police District, has been placed on administrative duty pending the outcome of the investigations.
Police did not name either the sergeant or the man who was shot. The 39-year-old man was charged with aggravated assault, violating the Uniform Firearms Act, and related offenses.
One person who said he saw the incident unfold was Roger Jimenez, 17.
He said he was helping his sister tend to his family’s food store, Ania Market on Kensington Avenue. A man who was in the store appeared agitated and exchanged words with his sister — Jimenez didn’t understand what they said because they were speaking in English, which he doesn’t speak, he said in an interview in Spanish.
His sister told him to remove the man from the store, he asked him to leave, and the man left, he said. Then his sister phoned their father and told him in Spanish that the man had threatened to shoot her and the store.
When Jimenez heard her say that, he went outside to look for a police officer, he said.
“I’m just a kid. I’m not sure what I’m supposed to do in this situation,” said Jimenez, who added that he only works in the store occasionally, to make pocket money.
Their father said to stay put and that he would talk to the police. He arrived 10 minutes later and found a police officer outside; a group of seven officers had arrived within another five minutes, Jimenez said.
The officers identified the man, and began questioning him, Jimenez said.
The man took off running, and an officer shot him, according to four people The Inquirer interviewed who said they were witnesses. None said they saw a weapon on the man.
At 1:45 p.m. Saturday, the store was closed, with its metal security shutters pulled down.
Erik Jones was among those who said he witnessed the shooting. Jones described seeing a commotion outside the store as he crossed the street. A man suddenly began running from police, Jones said, followed by an officer shooting a single shot at the man’s back.
“I don’t know what he had, but when I see [the officers] dragging his body out lifeless, that was the most traumatizing thing I have seen in my 36 years of life,” Jones said.
Three police vans and about 10 officers remained outside Ania Market Saturday afternoon. The officers declined to comment, but told customers the store was closed for the day. The store’s metal security shutters were pulled down.
As yellow tape prevented people from approaching the scene, friends John Henry, 32, and Robert Matthews, 28, spoke about what happened, as they stood outside a corner store two doors down from the market.
“They are supposed to protect us,” Matthews said. “This area is what I can afford, but I got to be terrified to lay my head here because of the people that are supposed to protect us?”
