Police shoot and kill armed man on Benjamin Franklin Parkway, officials say
Police shot and killed a man armed with a gun near 21st Street and the Benjamin Franklin Parkway Friday morning, officials said.
Philadelphia police shot and killed a man who they said fired a handgun on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway Friday morning, just a few blocks from the Philadelphia Art Museum.
Police responded to the intersection of 21st Street and the Parkway shortly after 11 a.m. after bystanders reported a man shooting in the area, said Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel.
No bystanders were struck. Police secured the area and attempted to talk to the man, who was armed with a revolver, through a bullhorn, and defuse the situation, Bethel said.
“The individual is just continually pointing the weapon, waving the weapon, and waving the weapon multiple times, pointing it at the officers. The officers all backed away and tried to take as much cover as possible,” Bethel said.
Then, at some point, the man fired his gun, he said.
Two officers — one Philadelphia police officer and a SEPTA cop — then each fired their weapons once, striking the man, Bethel said. He was rushed to Jefferson University Hospital, where he died at 11:36 a.m., the commissioner said.
He said the incident was being investigated as potential suicide by cop. It was not immediately clear how many times the man fired his weapon, he said.
Police did not release the man’s identity or age. Bethel said he appeared to be in his 50s.
A section of the Parkway was closed to traffic for several hours Friday as police investigated, gathering evidence that included a gun found under a bench.
The shooting unfolded as bystanders walked along the idyllic stretch of the city under clear blue skies, and as families visited the many public institutions nearby. The Franklin Institute briefly asked visitors to shelter in place.
Outside on Friday afternoon, passersby and tourists stood across from police, gaping at the sight of caution tape leading toward the Art Museum.
Abby Rosenblum, in town from Seattle for her daughter’s wedding, said she was walking to the Barnes Foundation when she heard the first shot ring out.
She told herself it was nothing, she said, and kept walking. Her friend’s daughter, Charlene Duty, heard a second shot a short time later.
“It took a while for the second shot,” Duty said.
The whole situation, the two women said, was upsetting.
Marc and Phyllis Donahue, of Chestnut Hill, were walking to Calder Gardens when they learned of the shooting.
“It’s something we have a hard time comprehending,” said Marc Donahue, lamenting the proliferation of guns.
“I hope it doesn’t keep people from coming into the city,” Phyllis Donahue said. “But I do get the concern.”
The incident marked the second fatal police shooting in the last week. On Oct. 2, officers in Mayfair shot and killed a 26-year-old man they said was armed with a knife.
Police tried to stop Jamir Cave after they said he had attempted to break into several cars and a house on the 4100 block of Tyson Avenue.
Police followed Cave to the 7000 block of Frankford Avenue, and when an officer tried to grab Cave’s arm, they got into a physical struggle, the department said in a statement.
Cave then produced a kitchen knife, police said. An officer fell during the altercation, and when Cave advanced toward an officer with the knife, police said, two officers shot him.
Both officers’ body cameras captured the incident, police said. It remains under investigation.
