New Year's gun battle reveals small arsenal
After a shoot-out with people said to be firing from a rooftop at midnight, police reported finding nine firearms. A 20-year-old was shot to death.
Police recovered nine handguns, including a Tec-9 pistol, at the Overbrook house where a man was killed during a shoot-out early New Year's Day, authorities said yesterday.
Five Philadelphia police officers who fired during the gun battle have been placed on administrative duty and will undergo retraining at the department range before returning to street duty.
The District Attorney's Office, as is standard, is investigating the shooting. The Internal Affairs Unit is investigating as well.
The shoot-out erupted as officers responded to a report of guns being fired from a porch roof on the 1700 block of North 59th Street, police said.
When officers arrived about 12:10 a.m., gunmen on the roof started shooting at them, authorities said.
It was not clear yesterday how the gun battle had played out. Bryan Jones, 20, who lived nearby, was shot at the rear of the building. Capt. Benjamin Naish, a police spokesman, said he did not know whether Jones had been armed. An autopsy determined that he died of a gunshot wound to the head.
Police arrested a young man and three juveniles.
Bail was set at $50,000 yesterday for Tyrone Bason, 19, on 11 charges, including attempted murder and aggravated assault, according to court records.
Two boys, ages 14 and 16, also were were charged with aggravated assault, and a 17-year-old was charged with reckless endangerment. All were charged with weapons offenses.
Naish said officers had found six handguns on the porch roof: a .44-caliber revolver, a .357-caliber revolver, a 9mm semiautomatic, a .41-caliber Magnum revolver, a .38-caliber revolver, and the Tec-9, a handgun associated with drive-by shootings and banned as an assault weapon from 1994 to 2004.
Inside the house, investigators found a .40-caliber semiautomatic, a .38-caliber revolver, a .22-caliber revolver, and ammunition.
"They had quite an arsenal," Naish said, adding that all the weapons would be tested to see whether they were linked to any homicides or other crimes.
In 2006, police killed 20 people - all but two of them armed - in violent encounters.
On Friday, District Attorney Lynne Abraham held what has become an annual news conference to warn about the dangers - and illegality - of firing weapons into the air to mark the new year.
Appearing with her was Joe Jaskolka, who was 11 when he was shot by an unknown person, likely a New Year's Eve reveler, shortly after midnight Jan. 1, 1999, and has since endured 23 surgeries.
Deadly-Force Guidelines
These are from the Philadelphia Police Department:
Police officers shall not use deadly force against another person unless they reasonably believe they must protect themselves or another person present from imminent death or serious bodily injury.
Police officers should not discharge their weapons when doing so will unnecessarily endanger innocent people.
Police officers shall not discharged their firearms in defense of property.
Police officers shall not discharge their firearms to subdue a fleeing individual who presents no threat of imminent death or serious physical injury to themselves or another person present.
Police officers shall not discharge their firearms at or from a moving vehicle unless deadly physical force is being used against the police officer or another person present, by means other than the moving vehicle.
Police officers shall not fire warning shots under any circumstances.
Police officers shall not discharge their firearms to summon assistance except in emergency situations when personal safety is endangered and no other reasonable means are available.
Police officers shall not discharge their firearms at a dog or other animal except to protect themselves or another person from physical injury and there is no other reasonable means to eliminate the threat.
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