Homeowner Shoots, Kills Man He Saw Breaking Into His Car In West Philadelphia: Police
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- A deadly confrontation in West Philadelphia. A man told police that he shot someone he saw breaking into his car.
Police had already received multiple calls about a masked man walking behind people's homes and breaking into cars in this West Philly neighborhood right before they say a homeowner took safety concerns into his own hands.
Police first got calls about this shooting around 10:30 p.m. Wednesday night. When officers got to the 700 block of North 44th Street, they found a 23-year-old lying unresponsive on the ground suffering from three gunshot wounds to the chest and torso.
Officers rushed him to the hospital in very critical condition and he was pronounced dead about an hour later.
Ballistic evidence revealed the shots were first fired across the street, behind a home on the 4400 block of Fairmount Avenue.
The 49-year-old homeowner told officers someone was trying to break into his vehicle, so he confronted the person by firing at least three shots at them.
"Preliminary information that he does have a permit to carry a weapon," Chief Inspector Scott Small said. "But at this time we believe that he was in his backyard when he confronted the 23-year-old, who broke into his vehicle using that brick and the vehicle is inside of the enclosed backyard of the 49-year-old homeowner. But detectives are talking to that homeowner right now."
Police say they found a brick inside the homeowner's vehicle, surrounded by freshly shattered glass where the window was broken.
Officers have not yet identified the 23-year-old who was killed.
As for the 49-year-old accused of shooting and killing him, police say they have his firearm and he's fully cooperating with their investigation.
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