18-year-old shot and killed by Pa. State Police on I-95: What we know and don’t know

Officials in Philadelphia offered few answers Monday to a host of questions involving the death of Anthony Allegrini Jr., an 18-year-old from Glen Mills whom a Pennsylvania state trooper shot and killed on I-95 Sunday morning.

The fatal shooting occurred as police said they were called to five different locations across the city to deal with reports of illegal drag racing and other large car meetups. Videos shared online showed drivers zigzagging across Philadelphia Sunday night, including on I-95.

Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner told reporters Monday the investigation into the shooting won’t be quick, and encouraged anyone with information or videos of the incidents — including Allegrini’s death — to contact law enforcement.

“There will come a time when we know what happened,” Krasner said, “and whatever flows from that, or does not flow from that, will be based on the truth.”

Here’s what we know and don’t know.

According to State Police Capt. Gerard B. McShea, two troopers responded to reports of illegal street racing and car drifting on I-95 near Penn’s Landing around 3:30 a.m. Sunday. Once there, the officers saw four people — including Allegrini — get into an Audi S4 with an obscured license plate stopped on the shoulder.

McShea said police tried to box the car in, using their cruiser and on foot, but the people in the car “failed to yield” and “struck the two troopers” while trying to drive away. At that point, one of the troopers fired a shot into the car, fatally striking Allegrini, who was the driver.

The troopers suffered minor leg injuries, McShea said.

Tire marks and donuts were still visible on I-95 near Walnut Street Monday.

A host of questions remain about the shooting, which is under investigation.

The two troopers involved have yet to be identified. McShea said they were placed on administrative leave due to their involvement in a “critical incident” and will be interviewed “in the near future.”

We also don’t know where the car was in relation to the trooper who opened fire, or where Allegrini was struck by the bullet. It also remains unclear how Allegrini managed to get out of the car after being shot.

Videos posted on social media appeared to show Allegrini physically struggling after being shot while lying on the highway — even as a nearby trooper appeared to turn his gun toward a motorist filming the scene instead of rendering aid.

“As far as protocol, there are times when people are removed from the vehicle for treatment purposes,” McShea said. “Obviously, I can’t go into this one because of the active investigation.”

McShea said the other passengers in the car were questioned, but have not been charged or publicly identified.

Allegrini’s girlfriend and parents stood behind their family’s attorney, Enrique Latoison, and pushed back against the police’s narrative Monday evening.

“We’ve all said, This doesn’t sound like that guy. This is not the guy that we know,” Latoison said. “I’m not making an excuse and the family’s not making an excuse. But you know, when you watch what happens on TV, Fast and Furious movies and everything, as soon as the cops come, everybody runs. And that’s part of the fun to those kids — getting away, running to the next place. Not ‘I’m here to commit aggravated assault or homicide or attempted homicide upon an officer.’”

The family is calling for a thorough investigation, and Latoison questioned whether troopers are trained to handle these types of situations.

“You know … it makes you wonder what experience did these individual officers that responded to this have?” Latoison said. “There were hundreds and hundreds of cars there. So why is it that this individual was acting out of the norm in a way that would result in him being killed?”

Allegrini’'s father, Anthony, called his son “a bystander.”

“Anyone that knows him knows he would never intentionally hurt anyone,” his father told The Inquirer.

» READ MORE: The family of an 18-year-old fatally shot by Pa. State Police called for a ‘full, transparent investigation’ into the incident

On Monday, Philadelphia Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw detailed a chaotic Sunday morning, in which police responded to five car meets across the city. Many of the cars gathered for illegal street races, Outlaw said, and swelling crowds of hundreds of people presented problems, including some who threw objects at responding officers.

“The behavior that we saw over the weekend is not only unacceptable but it will not be tolerated,” Outlaw said. “The type of behavior exhibited at these car meetups over the weekend were just outrageous, quite frankly. Property was destroyed. Officers and civilians were assaulted. And countless, countless individuals had their lives put at risk because of the behavior that we witnessed.”

» READ MORE: A look at drag racing and car meetups in Philadelphia

Staff writers Chris Palmer, Rodrigo Torrejón, and Emily Bloch contributed to this article.