Philadelphia Police Shoot, Kill Armed Suspect
By Wyatt Earp | June 25, 2009
Chalk another one up for the good guys.
Police mortally wounded an unidentified man in his 50s allegedly armed with a revolver in a confrontation tonight in West Philadelphia.
Around 7:30 p.m., two 16th Police District officers responded to a report of a person with a gun and gunshots in the 4200 block of Otter Street, police said.
The officers were confronted by a man standing on the porch at 4223 Otter, police said. He was holding a .38-caliber revolver at his right side.
That was his first mistake.
Police ordered him: “Drop the gun! Drop the gun!”
The man raised the gun and the two officers fired nine times, striking him twice in the chest, police said.
And that was his last mistake. Game over, man. Game over.
The man was transported by a medic unit to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and was listed in critical condition, said police spokesman Lt. Frank Vanore.
The man was pronounced dead at 8:49 p.m.
No police were injured, he said. (H/T – Philly.com)
And that, my friends, is the big story here. No civilians injured, no police officers injured, and the bad guy is dead after trying to shoot said officers.
It’s Miller Time!
Topics: Philly, The Job | 13 Comments »
June 25th, 2009 at 12:41 am
It will be interesting to see:
1. How often the departed has made himself known to the constabulary.
2. Which skels come out to defend the departed (prolly the usual suspects) and, of course, slam Philly’s finest in the process.
3. If this guy will soon be on Ace’s hobo menu.
June 25th, 2009 at 2:36 am
As always, I’m glad to hear the good guys won and all except the bad guy came out unhurt. That’s the way it should be.
June 25th, 2009 at 6:19 am
Just glad no officers were hurt (especially since one just got out of the hospital).
June 25th, 2009 at 7:21 am
Umm… I’m not trying to be a bitch here. I am pleased that the bonehead got what was deserved. I respect officers and the very difficult job they do… but…
Nine shots? And only two hit?
June 25th, 2009 at 8:39 am
Another satisfied customer!
June 25th, 2009 at 8:45 am
Well done.
June 25th, 2009 at 11:49 am
I don’t care who it is, if you raise your gun at people who are aiming at you, you’re gonna get shot. Period.
June 25th, 2009 at 11:59 am
Another contributor to the list of people doing stupid things. My hope is that the center of mass hits were the first two rounds fired and the rest were fired as the perp fell. Damned autos will just keep on firing, and firing, and firing (times 13 or so).
June 25th, 2009 at 1:03 pm
A cure for being stupid.
June 25th, 2009 at 2:08 pm
Two more students of Skeeter Skelton. Keep firing till they fall out of your sights.
June 25th, 2009 at 3:27 pm
I’m guessing he won’t do that again!
June 25th, 2009 at 8:47 pm
Bob – I’ll bet the family is lawyering up as we speak. What’s the going rate for a dead family member?
Morgan – Considering recent events here, it’s a miracle that happened.
RT – And I am tired of mourning co-workers.
Dano – In 15 years, I’ve never had to fire my weapon. That being said, I won’t Monday Morning QB the officers involved.
Crankipants – For the funeral parlor, at least.
Admiral – Yup.
Doghouse – That’s as true here as it is in Jackson, Mississippi.
MUD – With the excitement, I’m surprised more weren’t fired. That happens a lot.
Rick – The final cure, at that.
Jon – Until the threat is stopped. That’s the rule of thumb.
Mrs. Crankipants – You’re probably correct.
June 26th, 2009 at 3:24 am
It’s the best ending, unless the cops involved suffer from mental stress from shooting the asshole.
Wyatt, you’re better qualified to answer this than I am, but wouldn’t the ‘best’ ending would have been for the critter to drop his gun and surrender?
IMHO, the ’second best’ is for the noncomplying critter to get shot before he injures or kills any innocents.
I once almost shot some asshole playing ‘laser tag’ at an intersection, and I was in turn either angry at the shitheel for almost (I realized it was a toy as my legally carried 3906 was clearing the holster) forcing me to shoot him, and horrified that I’d almost shot someone for pointing what turned out to be a toy gun at me.
It literally took over an hour for me to quit shaking and calm down.
The lessons I drew (heh) from this incident were thus:
To protect myself or innocent third parties, I am indeed ready to use deadly force.
In the event such force is needed, I’d still suffer from the second guessing any normal person would deal with after killing a fellow human being.
Finally, the stupid high school kid who screeched to a stop at the intersection and drew a fucking LASER TAG pistol was damned lucky I noticed the orange barrel piece just as my Smith was clearing the holster.
Otherwise he’d have been guilty of impersonating a duck during duck season.