The dramatic moment a man is shot after wrestling a gun off a thief came before a harrowing night of gun violence in Philadelphia that saw three separate shootings and six people left in critical condition.
In separate incidents across the city, four teenagers were gunned down in front of an apartment complex and are in critical condition, while a car containing two 20-year-old women and two young infants was riddled with bullets.
The shootings are the latest in a wave of gun violence that is sweeping the City of Brotherly Love, with the city seeing at least 264 fatal and 1,011 non-fatal shootings this year alone already, according to City Controller Rebecca Rhynhart.
Police said they are looking for witnesses after a 46-year-old man was left in the street with gunshot wounds to his buttock and left ankle on Monday.
The crime took place at the corner of Cheltenham Ave and Erdrick St in the Wissinoming neighborhood of northeast Philadelphia a little before 1.40pm on July 11.
CCTV captured the moment one of the assailants got out of a dark-colored SUV parked up the road and approached his victim walking down the street in a blue t-shirt.
All of a sudden the pair are engaged in a tussle as the man in the blue t-shirt heroically grabs for the gun in the thief’s hand before he can take aim and tries to wrestle him to the floor.
A daylight shoot out took place between a man walking down the street and two assailants who tried to rob him on the corner of Cheltenham Ave and Erdrick St in the Wissinoming neighborhood of northeast Philadelphia on Monday
The man in the blue t-shirt heroically grabs for the gun in the thief’s hand before he can take aim and tries to wrestle him to the floor
Just as the man in the blue t-shirt is getting the upper hand, a second robber gets out of the black SUV and approaches to help his accomplice
Just as the man in the blue t-shirt is getting the upper hand, a second robber gets out of the black SUV and approaches to help his accomplice.
The second robber hesitates to fire as his accomplice is used as a human shield.
The victim finally gets the gun into his hands and a brief shoot-out ensues at just yards’ distance.
The second thug falls to the floor apparently shot, firing back at the hero, while the original thug flees for his life in the opposite direction and the pair then flee together in their dark SUV, which police said was possibly an Infiniti.
The victim was transported to Jefferson Torresdale Hospital and was listed as in stable condition.
The Shooting Investigation Group of the Philadelphia Police Department described the first robber as a Hispanic male of thin build, black hair and wearing a black hoody over a white t-shirt and blue jeans.
The second was also Hispanic and of thin build, wearing a white tank top and maroon shorts with a black design on the sides.
The Shooting Investigation Group of the Philadelphia Police Department described the first robber as a Hispanic male of thin build, black hair and wearing a black hoody over a white t-shirt and blue jeans. The second was also Hispanic and of thin build, wearing a white tank top and maroon shorts with a black design on the sides
Hot on the heals of this botched robbery came a series of shootings in Philadelphia Wednesday night that left six people in critical condition including four teenagers.
A pair of 20-year-old women and two children were found inside a car in West Philadelphia that had been riddled with at least 10 bullets at about 10.30pm.
Both adults were in critical condition after being shot in both the back and the head and a two-year-old boy was shot in the leg, Fox29 Philadelphia reports. The second child, a sic-year-old boy, was not hurt.
The shootings are the latest in a wave of gun violence that is sweeping Philadelphia, with the city seeing at least 264 fatal and 1,011 non-fatal shootings this year alone already, according to City Controller Rebecca Rhynhart
At around 2am, four teenagers were found gunned down in the courtyard of the Spring Garden Homes complex where police found 21 shell casings.
Two girls of 14 and 16 were found shot in the face and two boys, aged 13 and 15, were hurt in the arms and legs.
All four teens are in critical condition but are expected to survive.
And block away from where the car in which the women and children were shot in West Philadelphia, a 26-year-old man was shot in the leg on a street and was in critical condition.
There have been 292 homicide victims in Philadelphia so far this year according to Philadelphia Police statistics, a two per cent drop from this time last year.
But the total number of homicides in the city in 2021 was 562, 11 per cent up from 499 in 2020. The trend has been rising steadily since 2010.
Given this mini crime wave, it is little wonder that a study found Philadelphia to be one of the most stressed out cities in the country, coming in fifth out of 182 cities nationwide in ranking compiled by Wallethub.
