PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A man was shot seven times and killed by police on Thursday afternoon after a foot chase in North Philadelphia ended in gunfire.
Police received a call around 2:30 p.m. about a stolen car at 23rd and Fawn streets. As two responding officers arrived at the location, a group of people surrounding the car, who appeared to be stripping it for parts, ran off, Sgt. Eric Gripp said.
When one of the officers got out of the patrol car and walked over to the allegedly stolen vehicle, a man, later identified by his family as 33-year-old Curtis Smith, appeared from either inside or behind and took off running.
“This individual ran off separately from the first group of males,” Gripp said.
The officer chased the man down the 2200 block of Camac Street, through an empty lot to the back of a house on Dauphin Street, and into a breezeway between two buildings.
“The second officer that was inside of the police car joined in the foot pursuit, but he was several yards behind,” Gripp said.
Police say the man pulled a handgun and pointed it at the first officer, so the officer fired his gun at the man at least once, Gripp said.
The second officer, hearing the gunfire, ran toward them. When he got there, Gripp said, “he saw his partner officer was engaged in a physical altercation with this male, who still had the handgun in his hand.”
Gripp said, at some point during that altercation, the man fired his gun again.
Then the second officer fired several rounds at the man — “and that stopped the struggle,” Gripp said.
Police say no officers were injured, but they were wearing body cameras during the encounter. Smith’s relative told our partners at NBC10 they don’t believe the police version of this, and they want to see footage of the incident.
“He didn’t shoot no cops. He didn’t do none of that. They shot that man in his back,” the relative said.
A block captain who says she saw the incident happen also wants police to be held accountable.
“Tell the truth. Tell the truth. That’s all I want to say, tell the truth,” the block captain said.
The 32-year-old man was taken to Temple University Hospital in critical condition. Police say he was pronounced dead shortly after 3 p.m.
The officers are now on desk duty as the incident is investigated.
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