PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The Philadelphia Police Department said an officer fired at a man who shot someone in the face early Thursday morning.
An officer on patrol near Frankford Avenue and Pratt Street said he heard shots just after 1 a.m. and then saw a man shooting.
"When the officer exited his vehicle, that's when the male pointed the gun at the officer," Chief Inspector Scott Small said. "The officer fired several shots at the male with the gun. That man with the gun then ran."
None of the officer's five shots hit the 29-year-old suspect. When police caught up with him, the officer fired once more and missed. The gunman was then arrested.
"At this time, it looks like a justified discharge by police, because the officer not only heard the shots but saw the male firing shots. Turns out, the male did shoot someone in the face. When officers chased him, they recovered a gun that the suspect threw in a trash can," Small said.
The handgun did not have a serial number.
Officers did find blood at the scene, but no victim.
Police were soon alerted that a 34-year-old man, who had been taken to Temple University Hospital with a gunshot wound to the face, said he was shot at that location. He was treated and cleared to be released, though police said the victim has an unrelated active warrant for parole violations.
The victim later told police that the suspect was not the man who shot him on Frankford Avenue.
The initial shooting was caught on police cameras and nearby surveillance cameras. Investigators are interviewing several witnesses, as well as the officers involved.
