What to Know
- Armed burglars opened fire on a family returning to their Frankford home Monday night.
- Multiple bullets struck the father while a bullet grazed the boy's chest.
- The burglars fled the scene after the shooting.
A father and his 12-year-old son were both shot by armed robbers burglarizing their Philadelphia home Monday night.
The 33-year-old man, his wife, 11-year-old daughter and his son returned to their home along Marlowe Street in the Frankford neighborhood around 9:45 p.m. when they noticed something wasn't right, police said.
The family usually enters through the back of the home, according to Philadelphia Police Capt. John Walker.
"As they come to the back of the home they see the rear window broke out," Walker said.
The father jumped over a locked 6-foot gated fence to see what was going on and got onto his porch before the two men inside opened fire multiple times, Walker said.
Neighbors said they heard around 10 shots and the family's screams.
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The dad was trapped in the yard as he was hit by multiple bullets in his arms, legs and torso, investigators said.
The boy suffered a graze wound to his chest.
Police rushed the man and his son to the hospital where the boy was treated and released while his father was listed in critical condition. Both are expected to survive, Walker said.
The gunmen — described as being in their late 20s, one wearing a gray jacket, the other with a tattoo on his left arm and wearing a red and blue jacket — may have fled in a gold-colored SUV or minivan that was parked at the end of the quiet block, investigators said.
The family recently moved into the home.
It doesn't appear the burglars took anything from the house, Walker said.
Investigators planned to give the father, who speaks Spanish, time to recover before interviewing him about the incident.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Philadelphia police.
