Police: Pharmaceutical Delivery Driver Shot In Apparent Robbery Attempt In North Philadelphia
By Jan Carabeo
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – Police are on the lookout for two suspects in an attempted robbery of a pharmaceutical deliveryman in North Philadelphia. That deliveryman was shot in the hand but expected to recover.
The shooting sent two neighboring daycares on Ridge Avenue into lockdown as well.
Police say the shooting happened around 10:30 Thursday morning on the 2300 block of Ridge Avenue.
Investigators say a deliveryman was attempting to drop off drugs at the Wellness Pharmacy when one suspect pointed a gun at him. Police say there was an altercation and the delivery man was shot in the finger.
"I'm still in shock, you don't expect stuff like that happen," Dr. Negash Selassie said.
Selassie is a pharmacist and was inside at the time of the shooting.
"I saw the delivery person rushing in, and I called the police and ambulance for him," Selassie said.
Meanwhile two neighboring daycares went into lockdown.
"We shut the gates and put the kids on the middle of the daycare," Stepping Stones Learning Academy owner Jenelle Scott said.
Close to 100 kids and 20 teachers were at the daycare center when the gunfire erupted. Some were even outside in the area for their daily walk.
"We had teachers two blocks away," Scott said. "They stayed there. Our main prerogative is to make sure they stay safe."
Throughout the day, police searched for surveillance video of the incident. They say preliminary evidence suggests there are two suspects. One suspect, they say, was waiting at a getaway car.
But police say it doesn't look like they got away with anything.
Still, the North Philadelphia neighborhood where this happened is shaken and hoping that the victim makes a full recovery.
"He's really nice," Tanysha Handy-Harrell said of the delivery driver. "He stays to himself. He's quiet. Someone had to have been watching him for a while."
Handy-Harrell works at the pharmacy and said the driver stops by once a day usually at the same time.
Police haven't yet identified the victim but say he was taken to the hospital in stable condition.
Investigators aren't saying much about the suspects either. Anyone with information should call police.
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