1 dead, 1 wounded in separate police-involved shootings

A Philadelphia police officer shot and killed a man in the Overbrook section early Wednesday after the man, whose bizarre driving prompted calls to 911, refused to stop and drove toward the officer, who was on foot, according to police.

Commissioner Richard Ross said he was concerned about some of the incident's initial details, particularly because department regulations bar officers from shooting at moving cars unless someone inside is firing at them.

"I'm somewhat concerned about the tactics, I'll be honest with you," Ross said. "We've got a lot of work to do on this investigation, but it's an unfortunate incident all the way around."

The shooting, on the 6300 block of Overbrook Avenue near St. Joseph's University, was one of two police-involved shootings overnight Tuesday. In the other, a man was struck in a leg after allegedly shooting at police. He is listed in stable condition.

The incidents were the fifth and sixth police-involved shootings of the year, and the second time a suspect has died after being shot by an officer.

Officials did not release the names of the officers in either case, but they identified the man who was killed as Richard Ferretti, 52, of Andreas, a small town in Schuylkill County, Pa.

Ferretti had previous convictions for driving under the influence, drug possession, fleeing or attempting to elude an officer, and driving without a license, according to court records.

Ross said police received 911 calls about a motorist driving aimlessly in circles around 63rd Street about 1 a.m. Wednesday, prompting plainclothes officers to respond. The officers saw the man driving "around and around," and called for marked patrol cars, Ross said.

"At some point in time, the two plainclothes officers actually blocked the individual in," Ross said. "Subsequent to that, one of the officers felt he was being boxed in and was in fear of his life, and fired his weapon, striking that male."

After the shooting, he said, the man drove another block before his minivan hit at least four parked cars. He was not armed, Ross said.

The vehicles remained crumpled together on Overbrook on Wednesday morning, shards of glass still dusting the street and nearby sidewalk.

Holly Leno, a 21-year-old junior at St. Joseph's, owned the gray Honda Civic that was totaled when struck by Ferretti's van.

She said Wednesday that she had parked her car there just minutes before the shootout began. She heard the shots after returning to her apartment at the nearby Legacy at Drexel Arms complex, hearing three blasts in quick succession, then a fourth after a short pause.

"I was really scared," Leno said. "I never really thought that stuff goes on here."

Chris Baxter, 47, was watching television when he heard the gunfire. A few seconds later, Baxter recalled Wednesday, there was a thundering blast when the van struck the row of parked cars.

"To say it sounded like a car crash was an understatement," he said, comparing the noise to a "nuclear explosion."

The crash after the shooting - and the danger it could have posed - demonstrates one reason police policies generally prohibit shooting at moving cars even if an officer is in the vehicle's path.

An Inquirer investigation last year found that Philadelphia police had shot 43 people in vehicles since 2002, killing eight. In many cases, the newspaper found, the drivers were unarmed.

The city paid millions to the families of victims, and most officers were found to have violated police rules, though punishments were often light. Officers most frequently received a reprimand.

The department's policies were updated last year as part of the U.S. Department of Justice's review of procedures for officer-involved shootings.

"We probably have one of the toughest guidelines or directives in the nation on firing at vehicles," Ross said. "But sometimes circumstances create other situations."

Internal Affairs and the Homicide Unit will investigate the shooting, police said. The officer has been placed on desk duty.

The fatal incident occurred about two hours after officers opened fire on another man in Southwest Philadelphia.

According to Ross, two officers on patrol heard gunshots near Grays Avenue and Lindbergh Boulevard shortly after 11 p.m. Tuesday. Residents directed the officers to a man who was firing a gun into the air, Ross said.

He said that the officers ordered the man to drop the gun, but that he turned and fired at them. The officers returned fire, Ross said, hitting the man in the leg. He was taken to Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, where he was in stable condition, police said.

At the hospital, Ross said police found bullets in the man's pockets that matched the shell casings found at the scene. The gun police believe the man used was found in a field near the scene, Ross said.

cpalmer@phillynews.com

215-854-2817 @cs_palmer

Staff writer Dylan Purcell contributed to this article.