To: Public Safety Committee

From: Kelvyn Anderson, Executive Director, Police Advisory Commission

Re: Police shootings involving BB Guns

Attached are PPD summaries of 7 officer-involved shootings between 2007 & 2013 where BB
guns were used by the assailants. I identified these yesterday after creating a searchable file of all
shooting summaries posted on the PPD website.


Police
Shooting
Number
Date Location
Offender Wounded or
Killed
Offender
Arrested
Officer Wounded or
Killed
District
Attorney's
Action
Use of Force
Review Board
Determination
13 63
2013-10-
25
2600 block of N. 28th
Street
No Yes No Declined Not Scheduled
10-65 B and Ontario St
10-74 3300 Brighton St
09-20 4200 Grissom
09-39 50th Walton
07-27


07-50
300 block of Fitzwater
St


Officers discharged their weapons in all 7 incidents
Officers missed the offender in 5 of the incidents.
Officers discharged and struck the offender in 2 of the incidents, resulting in injuries
PS# 07-27 involved juveniles. The officer discharged her weapon, but missed the offender.
Districts where these incidents occurred include 3rd (1); 15th (2); 18th (1); 22nd (1); and
25th (1)


Kelvyn Anderson
Executive Director
Police Advisory Commission
990 Spring Garden St, Phila PA 19123
215-685-0872
PS# 07-27

4/21/07


On 4/21/07, at approximately 12:57 A.M., a uniformed officer stopped several juveniles in a
playground for investigation. The officer exited her vehicle and detained one of the males.
While investigating this male, a second male retrieved a hooded sweatshirt from the ground and
a handgun fell from the clothing. The officer drew her weapon and ordered the offender to stop.
The offender picked up the handgun and the officer discharged her weapon missing the offender.
The offender dropped the weapon and was arrested without further incident.

The offenders weapon was determined to be a BB gun and was recovered at the scene.

PS# 07-50

8/2/07


On 8/2/07, at approximately 1:38 A.M., uniformed officers were waved down by a witness, who
stated that two males had robbed the complainant, point of gun, minutes earlier. The officers
surveyed the area with the two civilians. The complainant and witness identified two males who
were walking east in the 300 block of Fitzwater Street, as the males who had robbed the
complainant. The officers ordered the offenders to stop. The offenders ran north on 3
rd
Street
and one offender threw a weapon to the ground in front of a residence in the 700 block of S. 3
rd

Street. The offenders ran west on Monroe Street with an officer pursuing on foot and another
officer in the patrol car. The offender who had discarded the weapon stopped in the 700 block of
S. 4
th
Street with his hands inside his waistband. One officer ordered him to show his hands, but
he refused. The officer then discharged, missing the offender. The offender ran east on Monroe
Street where he was apprehended by the second officer. The other offender was apprehended at
5
th
and Bainbridge Streets. The weapon discarded by the first offender was recovered and found
to be a BB gun.






PS# 09-20

3/4/09


On 3/4/09, at approximately 11:49 P.M., an officer, on-duty and in uniform, was stopped by a
witness who relayed that an offender with a handgun had attempted to rob her at Frankford and
Torresdale Avenues. The witness told the officer she had grabbed the butt end of the gun and
tried to wrestle it away from the offender. The offender then ran on Frankford Avenue toward
Womrath Street. The witness observed the offender get into the front passenger seat of a white
Acura.

The witness and the officer observed the white Acura in the 4200 block of Grissom Street. The
offender exited the passenger side door and fled south on Grissom Street, where he dropped a
replica Dessert Eagle gun on the sidewalk in the 1500 block of Adams Avenue. The offender
turned the corner and ran westbound on Adams Avenue.

The officer pursued the offender on foot, and when the officer turned the corner at Adams and
Grissom, the second offender was positioned in front of a maroon Lincoln pointing a handgun in
his direction. The officer discharged his firearm, missing the offender. The offender threw his
firearm underneath the Lincoln and fled west on Adams Avenue. He was apprehended in the rear
of a yard on the 1500 block of Womrath Street. The offenders firearm, a BB gun, was
recovered.








PS# 09-39

5/26/09

On 5/26/09, at approximately 10:28 P.M., plainclothes officers patrolling the area of 50
th
and
Walton Streets due to several recent armed robberies, observed the offender, armed with a
handgun, and three other males robbing an individual. The officers identified themselves and the
armed offender fled on foot. One of the plainclothes officers chased the offender to the 5000
block of Catharine Street, and the officer discharged his firearm, missing the offender when the
offender refused commands to drop the gun and show his hands. The offender was apprehended
and his handgun, a BB gun resembling a semi-automatic pistol, was recovered at the scene.



PS #10-65

9/14/10


On 9/14/10, at 8:02 P.M., uniformed officers responded to a Police Radio assignment, Person
with a gun at B and Ontario Streets. The officers observed the offender holding a black
handgun and ordered the male to drop the weapon. The offender pointed his weapon at the
officers and both officers discharged their weapons, striking the offender. The offender was
transported to Temple Hospital. A BB gun resembling a semi-automatic pistol was recovered at
the scene.



PS #10-74

10/19/10


On 10/19/10, at 11:01 P.M., an off-duty officer in plainclothes was inside McNallys Tavern at 3300 Brighton
Street. Three males armed with handguns entered the bar. One of the offenders pointed a handgun at the officer
and demanded money. The officer threw his money to the floor and as the offender reached for the money, the
officer discharged his weapon, striking the offender. All three offenders fled the bar and the officer pursued the
offenders on foot. The offenders ran to a vehicle and one of the offenders turned toward the officer with a gun in
his hand. The officer discharged his weapon again. All three offenders fled the scene. One of the offenders was
later dropped off at Albert Einstein Medical Center for treatment of a gunshot wound. A BB gun resembling a
handgun was recovered from inside McNallys Tavern.

PS# 13-63

10/25/13

On Friday, 10/25/13, at approximately 8:53 PM, uniformed officers, in a marked
police vehicle, responded to a Police Radio assignment of a Person with a gun in
the 2700 block of Oakdale Street. Upon their arrival, the officers observed the
offender sitting on the front steps of a house. Seeing the officers, the offender fled
west on Oakdale Street, while clutching his waist area as he ran. The officers
exited their police vehicle, drew their weapons, and pursued the offender to the
2600 block of N. 28
th
Street, where the offender pulled a handgun from his
waistband and pointed it at one of the officers. In response, the officer discharged
his weapon, missing the offender. The offender dropped his weapon and was
subsequently apprehended after a brief struggle in the 2800 block of Lehigh
Avenue.

The offenders weapon was recovered and determined to be BB gun.

There were no reported injuries as a result of the firearm discharge.