'Mini-machine gun' wielded in hold-up

Two juveniles, one wielding a fully loaded Tech 9 gun, were arrested after they robbed three people at 41st Street and Baltimore Avenue at about 8:20 p.m. on Thursday, said Philadelphia police Det. Michelle Boswell. The juveniles were apprehended by plainclothes Philadelphia police burglary team one block away on 41st Street between Baltimore Avenue and Pine Street. Two others who were with them escaped. "[A Tech 9] is like a mini-machine gun," Boswell said. "It's a machine gun made into a pistol." A University Dental School student and his two friends, who are unaffiliated with the University, were the victims of the robbery. Boswell said she is proud of the 18th District officers who apprehended the assailants. "There were two arrested, and two got away, but the two that got away didn't play a big part [in the robbery]," she said. "Everybody got their stuff back, and it worked out really well?nobody was hurt." Boswell said she is particularly glad that there was no injury, given the weapon involved. "It can be fired pretty quickly," she said of the Tech 9. "I think they are [dangerous]." Boswell recommended that students cooperate when they are dealing with any assailant who has a gun. "Sometimes they turn out to be fake," she said. "But you don't know that. Definitely cooperate." Boswell said guns like the Tech 9 are rarely found in the University City area.