PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A man on a dirt bike was fatally shot after a road rage incident near Independence Hall over the weekend, police said.
Around 9 p.m. Saturday, a group of illegal dirt bike riders were driving around the historic sites in Old City when they got into a dispute with a man in a car. Law enforcement sources told NBC10 that the dirt bike group surrounded the car just outside of Independence Hall.
Officials say that during the argument, one of the bikers and the man driving the Cadillac shot at each other, but it’s unclear who fired their gun first. They say the driver did have a permit to carry.
Police say 29-year-old Angel Luis Rios Jr. from Frankford, who was on one of the dirt bikes, was killed in the gunfire.
In response, another dirt bike rider, who also had a permit to carry, shot the car driver in the arm. He drove himself to the hospital. Police took Rios to the hospital, where he died.
Police sources believe Rios never fired a gun during the incident.
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Officer Anderson, a security guard in the area, said he was not surprised by the gun violence.
“This is a heavy traffic area with bikes, loud vehicles, people trying to have a good time, yelling out of their windows, cutting people off in traffic. So we hear stuff like that all the time. We hear people arguing at the stop lights, so it’s a little shocking, but not really,” he said.
Police are working to identify all of the dirt bike riders involved in the incident.
It is not yet known if the driver of the car will face any charges.
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