Philadelphia police shoot, kill man after responding to domestic incident in Fairhill
Philadelphia police shot and killed a man in North Philadelphia's Fairhill neighborhood after responding to a domestic incident that led to a flurry of gunfire Friday evening, authorities said.
First Deputy Commissioner John Stanford said just before 6 p.m., officers received a 911 call from a home on the 2900 block of Lawrence Street for a domestic incident involving an armed man.
After arriving at the scene, officers went up to the residence and were immediately shot at by a 40-year-old man from inside the home, Stanford said.
The suspect exited the home but continued to shoot at officers. Stanford said police retreated between parked cars on the street and exchanged gunfire with the suspect.
Then the suspect got into a police car and closed the door, to which officers then thought he was possibly trying to take the vehicle. Officers approached the car, and the exchange of gunfire between the suspect and four officers continued, according to Stanford.
The man got out of the car and fell to the ground. Officers then quickly apprehended him and brought him to Temple Hospital, where he died just before 6:30 p.m., Stanford said.
None of the officers were struck; however, there were many shots fired.
"If you see the amount of gunfire and how their police car is shot up, it's by the grace of God that we don't have, you know, a number of officers that were injured or killed in this," Stanford said.
Police cars in Philadelphia are equipped with special ballistic glass and door panels, and Stanford credited the technology with helping protect the officers while the suspect was firing at them from within the car.
The suspect's gun was recovered from inside the police car. It's unclear if he was a resident at the home where police were initially called to investigate.
Stanford said no one else suffered any injuries, but there were vehicles nearby that had their windows shattered by gunfire, and a home was also struck.
For neighbors, a day that was filled with celebration has now ended in tragedy.
"I live right around the block. You know, being able to see this stuff happen, especially on Fourth of July, where it's family, where it's you know, friends hanging out just celebrating, it's tough to see, especially that someone lost their life," said Israel Torres, a neighbor in the area.
The Philadelphia Police Department's Internal Affairs is investigating the shooting.
