Cops shoot two men dead; bike officer hit by a car

City cops fatally shot two men during a scuffle over a handgun in Tioga last night.

And later in the evening, a police officer was hit by a car and dragged for several feet in Brewerytown, causing another officer to fire at the motorist, who was not injured, police said.

The first dramatic encounter started shortly after 6 p.m., when a woman approached two cops on Tioga Street near Sydenham and said two men were fighting over a gun in a nearby apartment, said police spokesman Lt. Frank Vanore.

The officers dashed into the apartment and spotted the men, fighting for control of a .38-caliber Smith & Wesson revolver.

Vanore said the cops, both of whom work in Nicetown's 39th District, ordered the men to drop the gun. They refused and the officers each fired once.

One man was shot in the head and died at the scene, and the other man was shot in the chest and taken to Temple University Hospital, where he died about 9:40 p.m., Vanore said. He did not identify either man.

He said the officers, who were not injured, would be placed on desk duty pending an Internal Affairs investigation.

In Brewerytown, a bike cop was struck by a 27-year-old man driving a red Chevy on Girard Avenue near 30th Street about 8 p.m. The cop suffered leg and arm injuries, and was admitted to Temple University Hospital in stable condition, Vanore said.

Another cop fired at the Chevy, and the driver was arrested at the scene.