PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Authorities are investigating the Philadelphia police shooting and killing of a 12-year-old boy, who they say fired at officers Tuesday night.
Authorities say four officers — dressed in regular clothes and in an unmarked car — were doing surveillance near 18th and Barbara streets around 7:30 p.m. when they spotted two teens on bikes, one of whom they recognized as being wanted for questioning in a gun investigation.
When they drove the unmarked car toward them with their lights and sirens on, gunfire erupted, shattering the rear passenger window.
“The officer that was positioned in the rear passenger seat, he was struck by shards of glass in his face and in his eyes. The officer that was in the rear driver seat and the operator of the vehicle immediately exited the vehicle,” said Deputy Commissioner Ben Naish.
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"The bullet went through the passenger side rear window and — we’re very lucky — missed the officers in the back seat," added Sgt. Eric Gripp. The bullet hit and embedded itself in the driver's side headrest, according to a police statement.
One of the boys clearly had a gun, Gripp told reporters.
The driver and the other officer in the back seat got out of the car and chased the teens on foot for about half of a block, police say, firing several rounds and striking 12-year-old Thomas Siderio in the back.
Naish added, “The bullet entered into his back. That doesn’t mean that he was fleeing and that there was not a gun being pointed toward or in the vicinity of the officer.”
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Police took Siderio to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The other teen, a 17-year-old, was briefly questioned but let go for the time being. Police say the gun Siderio used — a 9mm semi-automatic handgun equipped with a laser — was stolen.
None of the officers was wearing a body camera.
Siderio was a seventh-grader at Sharswood School in South Philadelphia.
Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw called for the community to come together, and she said the Internal Affairs Division will conduct a thorough investigation.
"Last night, a young child with a gun in their hand purposely fired a weapon at our officers and, by miracle, none of the officers suffered life-threatening injuries," she said in a statement. "However, the life of a young man was cut tragically short, and we should all be questioning how we as a society have failed him and so many other young people like him."
As with every police shooting, both officers who fired at the teens are on desk duty until the outcome of the investigation. The injured officer is recovering.
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