PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A robbery suspect was shot in the ankle by a Philadelphia police officer last week after he allegedly fired at the officer first in the city's Kensington neighborhood.
Police say they were patrolling the area near Kensington and Allegheny avenues around 9:30 p.m. Thursday when they made contact with a victim of a robbery.
They say a man was walking down the street when he was approached by an armed man on a bicycle who struck the victim in the hand with a gun, then stole his cellphone before fleeing on the bike.
Officers followed the man and the victim to the 900 block of East Westmoreland Street where one officer attempted to approach the suspect, and another remained in the car.
Police say that’s when the robbery suspect discharged his weapon twice at the 14th District officer in the driver's seat of the patrol car.
Related
The officer returned fire, striking the suspect in the left ankle. That’s when the suspect fell to the ground and dropped the gun.
The man was taken to a local hospital and is in stable condition.
The officer, who was not hurt during the incident, is a 9-year veteran of the police department and is on administrative duty pending an internal affairs investigation per protocol.