What to Know
- A man was shot and killed after allegedly running over a police officer in Northeast Philadelphia Monday afternoon.
- Investigators say the man was wanted on a narcotics warrant and tried to flee the scene in a vehicle before police opened fire.
- Three officers suffered non-life threatening injuries during the incident. The shooting is under investigation.
A man who was wanted on a narcotics warrant was shot and killed by police after allegedly driving into an officer in the Tacony section of Northeast Philadelphia Monday afternoon.
Philadelphia Police Commissioner Richard Ross called the deadly situation involving the Northeast Narcotics Field Unit on the 7100 block of Hegerman Street "volatile" and that internal affairs was "looking very closely" at it.
The narcotics officers went to serve a search warrant around 4:10 p.m. Monday after tracking the man for a day or so, Ross said Tuesday. The man who was wanted on the warrant was in a black Toyota Camry and tried to flee the scene after being boxed in by police, police said.
The man allegedly drove into at least one of the plain-clothes officers, injuring his right knee and hip. Another officer fired three shots at the man, striking him in the head and chest.
"They said, 'Get out! Get out!' He wouldn't get out and they shot," Geri Dixon, a witness, told NBC10. "They did what they needed to do. It was justified."
Ross said the internal investigation would determine if the shooting was justified or not.
"Quite candidly, we have some concerns about the shooting, some of the tactics that were used," Ross said. "It's very early in our investigation."
The man, who has not yet been identified, was pronounced dead at the scene at 4:18 p.m.
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"Somebody lost their life and that's a very serious situation," Ross said. "We value all life and preach the sanctity of life in our policies and our procedures."
Besides the officer who was struck by the vehicle, two other officers were also injured though it's unclear how.
None of the officers' injuries are life-threatening. Two of the officers were expected to be released from the hospital Monday while the third continued to receive treatment, Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Scott Small said.
Police recovered drugs, money and a gun from the suspect's home.
The officer who fired his weapon was placed on administrative leave, per normal police department policy.
"The most important thing is to make sure all the facts come out," Philadelphia Police Capt. Sekou Kinebrew said Monday. "The investigation is exhaustive, not hasty, comprehensive and we get to the truth of the matter."
This was the third deadly officer-involved shooting in Philly in the past couple weeks including a running gun battle in South Philly and a man who died after shooting at SWAT officers he thought we home invaders in Germantown.
