UPDATED Oct. 9, 2023 at 2:35 p.m.
PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Police on Thursday identified the man accused of critically wounding a man the night before in the city’s Rhawnhurst neighborhood before engaging in a shootout that injured three responding officers and resulted in his death.
Police say just after 7 p.m. Wednesday at a house on Whitaker Avenue, near Shelmire Avenue, a boy around 12 years old was playing a video game when he got into an argument with his father, 42-year-old Michael Hwang.
Police say Hwang also started to argue with the boy’s uncle, a man in his late 30s who was also in the home. The argument escalated and, according to the preliminary investigation, Hwang shot the man in the face.
Investigators believe someone around this time made a call to 911.
Hwang then went to the front of the house, where responding officers told him to drop the gun. Hwang refused. In the resulting shootout, Hwang was killed, and two officers — Samantha Gress, 32, and John Hesdon, 34 — and a 37-year-old sergeant were injured, according to the investigation.
Police say they discovered Hwang was wearing a bulletproof vest, and he had a loaded gun and ammunition on him.
The boy’s uncle was taken to a hospital, where he is considered to be in critical but stable condition. Officials say the three injured police are expected to recover.
Investigators say neither the boy nor a woman who was in the home at the time, were hurt.