Philadelphia Police: Officer Shoots Man Armed With Knife In Feltonville
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Philadelphia Police say a man who was wielding a knife at officers was shot by police in Feltonville. It happened on the 4700 block of Rorer Street, shortly before 11 a.m. Wednesday.
Eyewitness News was first on the scene of the shooting.
Police from the 25th District say they did everything possible to not have to use lethal force.
"They asked the male to show his hands," Philadelphia Police Sgt. Eric Gripps said. "The man turned around and produced a knife from his waistband."
Officers were responding to a man either trying to enter or leave a home on the block. They made repeated verbal demands to drop the weapon followed by repeated taser attempts.
"Two of the officers that were on location had tasers. They drew their tasers, ordered him to drop the knife, he did not do so, they deployed their tasers. That taser strike was ineffective," Gripp said. "The male continued toward the officers."
Police say they had no other choice than to fire at the man who continued to pose a threat.
"The officers were backed all the way down the block by this male, imploring him over and over again to drop the knife. He did not do so. One of the officers reloaded his taser, fired a third time, the taser was ineffective. At that point, the officers with no other choice, one of the officers fired his handgun three times, striking the male three times center mass," Gripp said.
Police rushed the man to Temple University Hospital after trying to deescalate a situation that still ended in a shooting. The man underwent surgery and is in critical condition.
"The taser does not work 100% of the time. There's some folks that are struck with it, they pull it right out and keep on going. Other people, it puts them down on the ground and they're completely incapacitated," Gripp said.
Police say all the officers involved were wearing body cameras.
The Internal Affairs Division is investigating.
The suspect is said to be a Hispanic male in his 40s or 50s.
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