Philadelphia police fatally shoot man in Port Richmond

Philadelphia police fatally shot a man in Port Richmond on Wednesday morning after the man allegedly ran into a stranger’s house and then pulled a knife on the officer who followed him inside, authorities said.

Capt. Sekou Kinebrew, police spokesperson, said officers first responded to a report of a fight on the 3500 block of Belgrade Street around 8:45 a.m. Members of the crowd said one man was causing a problem, at which point the man — whom Kinebrew did not identify — started running away.

He ran into a home on the block. He did not live there, but the front door was open because a woman was walking out to take a child to school, according to Kinebrew.

An officer followed the man inside and told him to show his hands, police said. The officer first pulled out his Taser as he yelled out commands, but the man ultimately pulled a knife.

The officer then pulled out his gun, Kinebrew said, and when the man lunged at the officer — a 16-year veteran assigned to the 24th District — he fired one shot, hitting the man in the torso.

The man was taken to Temple University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 9:16 a.m., Kinebrew said.

Kinebrew said police were not certain why the man ran into the house. No one else was reported injured during the shooting or the preceding commotion, he said, and nothing was reported stolen.

The Police Department’s officer-involved shooting unit was investigating, and the officer, whom the department has not yet publicly identified, will be placed on desk duty pending the outcome.