Guns pulled, man dies, but 2 cops walk away unharmed
Two Highway Patrol officers, police said last night, had to make the split-second decision that other Philadelphia cops have so often had to make recently: Shoot or be shot.
Two Highway Patrol officers, police said last night, had to make the split-second decision that other Philadelphia cops have so often had to make recently: Shoot or be shot.
In last night's shooting involving police, it was the cops who walked away with their lives.
The man they were trying to arrest did not.
The two officers pulled over a Mercedes on 56th Street near Media in West Philadelphia after the driver ran a stop sign about 7 p.m., police said.
After the unidentified driver refused to hand over his license and registration, police ordered him to step out of the vehicle.
Moments later, police said, the man took off on foot and was caught by one of the officers.
A struggle ensued and, police said, the man reached for a gun, then pointed the Glock Model 19 at the officer closest to him. Seeing this, the officer's partner opened fire at the driver and struck him several times in the abdomen, police said.
The man was pronounced dead at the scene. The officers, who were placed on administrative duty pending an Internal Affairs investigation, were not injured.
"We don't yet know what the individual was doing out there with a gun," said police spokesman Lt. Frank Vanore.
Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey said he was relieved that the officers were unharmed.
"I am just glad it was a situation that didn't involve police officers hurt," he said.
This fatal police-involved shooting comes almost a month after the shooting of Officer Patrick McDonald, 30, who was gunned down in the line of duty in North Philadelphia. His killer, Daniel Giddings, 27, also was killed in that shooting.
The force's 30-day mourning period for McDonald ends this week. *