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Man wounded in police-involved shooting in Northeast Philadelphia

Published  November 14, 2018 3:56pm EST
U.S.
FOX 29 Philadelphia

NORTHEAST PHILADELPHIA (WTXF) - A man was wounded in a police-involved shooting on the 8700 block of Crispin Street in Northeast Philadelphia.

"I saw all the cop cars and everything and cops blocking the way. I live right over there," said Kevin Laing.

A commotion and gunshot brought he and other neighbors out of their homes in the northeast Tuesday just before 7 p.m. They watched from behind police crime tape that blocked off the area in front of a home on the 8700 block of Crispin Street. Investigators say they had received several 911 calls about a man with a gun in the street.

"Officers ordered the male multiple times to drop the gun. Both officers ordered him to drop the gun. The male pointed the gun at both of the officers," said Chief Inspector Scott Small. But police say the 66-year-old man who they say they later determined was highly intoxicated didn't put down the gun so one of the uniformed officers shot him once in the left thigh. They say laying on the ground the suspect still had the gun in his hands which officers wrestled away from him.

"He was having some sort of disturbance with family members and that's when police were called and the suspect exited his property. He walked out to the sidewalk area of his property and that's where he encountered police," said Chief Inspector Small.

The Crime Scene Unit remained on scene more than two hours after the shooting happened. Police say they have several witnesses including a family member who are being interviewed about what happened. One neighbor is relieved to hear the restraint police used to subdue the suspect who is expected to survive.

"I was glad to hear that it wasn't fatal because you just hear too much bad things happen these days. It's just good to hear that it was solved peacefully in a way," said Laing. The man was taken to Aria-Torresdale Hospital. Police also have the fully loaded semi-automatic weapon they say the suspect had. It's unclear what the argument with his family was about.