Philly cop shoots man who answered door holding a rifle, police say
When officers went to inspect a South Philadelphia property, the man answered the door holding a rifle, police said.
A Philadelphia police officer shot a man Wednesday after authorities tried to execute a court order to inspect a property in South Philadelphia and the 36-year-old resident answered the door holding a rifle, police said.
Around 11 a.m., a worker with the Philadelphia Department of Licenses and Inspections, accompanied by two Philadelphia sheriff’s officers and a locksmith, went to carry out an inspection at a property on the 1900 block of Morris Street that had been deemed unsafe. When they knocked, a man police did not identify answered the door armed with the weapon, said Deputy Police Commissioner Frank Vanore.
The man would not let the officers enter, and then walked away, toting the rifle as he walked through the neighborhood, east on Morris, then south on South 18th Street and east on Moore Street, Vanore said.
“He’s armed with a rifle. They immediately back up. He wasn’t allowing them into the property. And then at one point he leaves. He starts to walk,” he said.
L&I spokesperson Shemeka Moore said the inspector and locksmith “ran to safety” and were not injured.
The sheriff’s officers called for backup, and police responded, Vanore said. As the man walked down the 1600 block of Moore Street, he turned to face one of the officers, who fired his gun, striking the man in the right side of his torso, according to Vanore.
The man was rushed to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, where police said he was in critical condition. The rifle was recovered at the scene, and police continue to investigate.
Four people, including a mother and child, were sent scrambling as shots rang out in front of Little Susie’s Coffee & Pie, at South Chadwick and Moore Streets, as authorities closed in on the man with the weapon, said a woman who watched the scene unfold.
”We were running when we heard the shots,” said the woman, who asked not to be identified, citing safety concerns. ”There was a guy in his car, parking. I just went up to him and was like, ‘Hey, there was a shooting, can we get in?’ And he let me in.”
Moore said workers had gone to the property on Wednesday for a safety inspection. City records show the property had violations dating back to 2023. In October, inspectors found “wires just hanging” and partially demolished first-floor walls without the proper permits. The property failed another inspection March 11, city records show.