Family questions FBI shooting of a suspect in Nicetown-Tioga

The family of a man shot Friday by an FBI agent attempting to serve an arrest warrant in Philadelphia’s Nicetown-Tioga neighborhood is questioning the circumstances behind the shooting.

Stacey Weeks said her son — Tahiem Weeks-Cook, 22 — was shot four times after a bureau SWAT unit arrived just before noon Friday at his apartment on the 1600 block of Venango Street.

Since then, Weeks, 41, has had trouble finding out what led to her son’s shooting, while doctors at Temple University Hospital have worked to try to keep him alive.

“They’ve told me nothing,” she said of the FBI. “They were at the hospital. They refused to talk to me. They told the nurses that this was an ongoing situation, and they don’t have to tell me anything.”

A spokesperson for the FBI’s Philadelphia office has said the shooting remains under review by the bureau’s Inspection Division, a unit that investigates agent-involved shootings.

But so far, authorities have released little information — including a confirmation of the identity of the man who was shot, anything about what led up to the shooting, or a description of the charges that first led them to the apartment on Venango Street.

Court records indicate that the same day Weeks-Cook was shot, he was charged by authorities in Upper Southampton Township on state felony counts of robbery, conspiracy and making terroristic threats. The documents do not indicate that he had been arrested on those charges, which stem from a July 30 episode.

But officers from that township’s police department were spotted outside Weeks-Cook’s apartment in North Philadelphia following Friday’s shooting.

Bucks County authorities have so far declined to discuss the case.

And in that silence, Weeks and her family’s lawyer, Paul Hetznecker, said they’ve heard concerning things from neighbors who said they witnessed the shooting Friday morning — including that Weeks-Cook was unarmed and fleeing from authorities when he was shot.

Neighbors at the scene Friday could not immediately confirm those details in interviews with The Inquirer. FBI spokesperson Carrie Adamowski declined to comment, citing the ongoing investigation.

Still, Hetznecker called on the bureau to provide a full account as soon as possible.

“The information that the family has provided is extremely troubling,” Hetznecker said. “I have grave concerns about the independence of any investigation conducted by the FBI without some sort of independent inquiry.”

Meanwhile, Weeks-Cook’s condition remains precarious. His mother described him as an auto-body mechanic who has been a role model to his two younger brothers in the five years since their father died.

He remains hospitalized and doctors amputated his right-leg Saturday morning, Weeks said.

While she waited on news of her son’s condition, she left the hospital to see the scene of the shooting, near the intersection of 17th and Venango Streets, for herself.

Gone were the police cordons that a day earlier had kept curious neighbors at bay while investigators in hazmat suits searched under a row of cars parked along the street. Gone were the rows of law enforcement vehicles, standing ready as agents removed evidence from Weeks-Cook’s apartment.

“There’s just so much blood,” Weeks said, as she shot video of the remnants of the scene. “I don’t understand how you can shoot a person in broad daylight. … I want it out there. My son is fighting for his life.”

Staff writer Rodrigo Torrejón contributed to this article.