Landlord-Tenant Officer Shoots Woman in the Head During Eviction, Police Say

A landlord-tenant officer shot a woman in the head during an eviction process on Wednesday morning in Philadelphia's Fairmount neighborhood, officials said.

According to law enforcement officials, the incident occurred just after 9 a.m., when the rent server – an employee of the landlord tenant office – was serving eviction paperwork at the Girard Court Apartments along the 2100 block of N. College Avenue.

The landlord tenant office is a private entity that carries out court orders. The officer is not a servant of the City's municipal court. A spokesperson for the court explained that a landlord-tenant officer is instead paid by a landlord.

At some point during that eviction process, a struggle ensued, according to investigators. 

“He made contact with the residents inside and at some point during that contact a physical struggle ensued at which time the rent server discharged his firearm striking the female resident in her head, one time,” Philadelphia Police Lieutenant Jason Hendershot said. 

The woman’s husband, Gabriel Plummer, gave his account of what happened during an interview with NBC10. 

“He was trying to push the door open,” Plummer said. “We’re pushing it closed. Because you’re not coming in here. We don’t know what’s going on.” 

Plummer said the officer then opened fire.

“I seen when he drawed up and he – just like this – baow! He shot her. Just like that. Boom,” Plummer told NBC10. 

The woman, identified by Plummer as 35-year-old Angel Davis, was transported to a nearby hospital where she is listed in critical condition, officials said.

Officials said the incident is currently being investigated, a weapon has been recovered and the officer has been detained.

“Allegedly there was a knife involved,” Lieutenant Hendershot said. “That’s why he discharged his firearm. So we have to figure that out.” 

Plummer told NBC10 he was trying to give the worker back personal items that he had dropped. 

“He dropped his badge, a watch and some metal thing,” Plummer said. “I don’t know what it was, I just picked it up.” 

Lieutenant Hendershot was unsure of the tenant office’s specific policy in regards to armed workers. 

“I can’t speak to as to what their policies and protocols are,” he said. 

In Pennsylvania, the employee involved is legally allowed to carry a gun in his role enforcing the law with the proper certification, according to Hendershot. 

Police are currently monitoring Davis who remains in critical condition at the hospital but is also conscious and alert. 

“So far I heard she’s doing okay,” Plummer said. 

NBC10 reached out to a lawyer for the landlord tenant office but we have not heard back from them. We also reached out to the apartment complex. A spokesperson said they can’t comment on the shooting. 

Karen Harvey, the director of the Philadelphia Rent Control Coalition, also released a statement on the shooting. 

“The shooting today of a Philadelphia Tenant by an LT Officer serving an immediate eviction notice, can only be described as a tragedy,” Harvey wrote. “Many of this city’s most vulnerable tenants; single parent headed households, people of color and the working poor, who on a daily basis face a similar fate as that of today’s victim. Excessive rents are choking those marginalized tenants most in need of affordable housing. The eviction rate in Philadelphia, bears the truth! Families are being displaced daily.

If we are to save our city and its most marginalized renting public, now is the time to act. The Philadelphia Rent Control Coalitions goal is in securing the assurance of safe and affordable housing for all of Philadelphia’s tenants without discriminatory practices. Rent Control (Rent Stabilization) represents the most sensible courses of action to ensure that horrific events such as today's do not.”

Editor's Note: This story has been updated to reflect that the officer was not a municipal employee.