PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Philadelphia police have arrested two men they say shot at officers in West Philadelphia Friday night.
It all started when officers saw a car driving erratically near the 5400 block of Morse Street.
“At one point, they even observed the vehicle go the wrong way on a one-way street,” said Deputy Commissioner Frank Vanore.
Vanore said the officers activated their lights to pull the car over, but the driver sped off, and one of the passengers fired at least two shots at the pursuing officers.
The car was then forced to stop because a truck was blocking the street. That’s when the men fled on foot. Two were caught: 30-year-old Nathaniel Smith, suspected of firing the gun, and 35-year-old Khalil Flowers. Both face a long list of charges, including assault of a law enforcement officer, aggravated assault and recklessly endangering another person.
Smith is being held on $1 million bail; Flowers, on $500,000. A third suspect remains at large.
The incident came amid a violent few days, including two quadruple shootings.
Vanore announced an arrest in one of those cases — a Saturday evening birthday party in Harrowgate, in which two men were killed and a 7-year-old girl was critically wounded. Lonzell McDaniel has been charged with murder and related offenses.
Vanore says more arrests are expected.
“Everybody involved knew each other, so this is not going to be, as you know, something we’re not going to be able to get to the bottom of,” he said.