Police: FedEx Driver Fatally Shoots Suspect During Armed Robbery In Northeast Philadelphia
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Police say a FedEx driver fatally shot a suspect during an attempted robbery in Northeast Philadelphia on Tuesday night. The shooting happened shortly after 7 p.m. on the 600 block of Unruh Avenue in the city's Lawndale neighborhood.
Breaking: A FedEx driver was robbed/shot while making a delivery on the 600 block of Unruh. Police say the driver was armed and exchanged gunfire with the robbery suspect. FedEx driver is stable, Suspect was located and is critical. @CBSPhilly - more at 10/11 on @CBSPhilly pic.twitter.com/0jq9ugjyed
— Alexandria Hoff (@AlexandriaHoff) December 18, 2019
It should have been a routine delivery with the 32-year-old FedEx driver dropping off a package to a home in the area, but that's when police say, an armed gunman approached and robbed the driver, perhaps not anticipating that the FedEx driver was also armed.
"He was able to tell police that he was making a delivery on the 600 block of Unruh and right when he got done making that delivery, he was approached by at least one male and he was robbed at point of gun," Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Scott Small said.
Police say the driver was shot once in the abdomen during the robbery. Police say as they were receiving calls about shots fired in the area, the FedEx driver was able to drive himself to a nearby parking lot away from the scene.
He was transported to Einstein Medical Center and is in stable condition.
He told police that after being shot in the stomach, he pulled out his own weapon and returned fire at the suspect.
"Initially, we did not know whether the perpetrator was struck by gunfire," Small said.
But minutes later, police were called to the 1400 block of Creston Street where they found a 27-year-old man in a driveway suffering from multiple gunshot wounds to the chest, back and torso. The suspect died at the hospital.
Also near that scene, investigators located a vehicle where some of the items stolen from the FedEx truck were found inside. Police also say blood and a shell casing was found inside the vehicle.
A second person of interest was also located with the vehicle. Police are looking into whether that person drove the robbery suspect from the shooting scene to where he was found.
Back on Unruh Avenue, at least seven spent shell casings were found near where the package was delivered.
This is now a homicide investigation so police will determine whether the FedEx driver was acting in self-defense.
When asked if drivers are allowed to carry firearms, FedEx told CBS3 they "are not at liberty to disclose details of our internal policies."