Carjacker killed in 40th St. shooting

An alleged carjacker was shot twice and killed during a struggle with Penn Police at about 11:00 a.m. yesterday near 40th and Spruce streets.

The shooting - which occurred on the 200 block of Preston Street, between Spruce and Locust streets - followed a high-speed car chase west on Spruce St. in which the suspect crashed into a line of parked cars and injured a female pedestrian.

The suspect was taken to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and died from gunshot wounds at 12:37 p.m.

The pedestrian, who is a Health System employee, was also transported to HUP and is currently in stable condition.

The man was first seen by two workers allegedly attempting to steal a car from the parking garage outside the University Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, located at 33rd and South streets, Vice President of Public Safety Maureen Rush said at a press conference at the scene of the incident.

He ran away from the garage workers and attempted to carjack two vehicles before dragging the driver out from a white van at gunpoint. The driver was unaffiliated with the University.

The suspect then drove at high speed west on Spruce Street to the 4000 block, where he crashed into a line of about five parked cars, causing a pile-up.

The workers had reported the theft to Penn Police, who pursued the suspect by car down Spruce Street.

The man exited the car, leaving his semi-automatic pistol on the dashboard, and ran behind houses on the north side of Spruce Street.

Police followed him, believing the man was still armed, Rush said.

Rush said that there was then a struggle between the suspect and a police officer in which the suspect tried to take the officer's weapon.

During the struggle, the suspect was shot twice, including once in the abdomen.

It is unclear at this point who fired the shots.

The incident is currently under investigation by the Philadelphia Police Homicide Division.

Representatives from the division were not available for further comment.

The suspect, whose name has not yet been released, was immediately transported to HUP and went into surgery. He was pronounced dead about an hour and a half later.

Rabbi Levi Haskelevich of the Penn Lubavitch House, which is located across the street from where the suspect left his car, said he was startled by the crash.

"We thought maybe the second floor window fell down," he said.

He said he saw the suspect get out of the car. Less than a minute later, Penn Police arrived in pursuit and asked him in which direction the suspect had run.

Kelly Convery, a Nursing junior, who lives in the front apartment of 4035 Spruce St., was studying on a couch near her front window on the first floor when she also heard a loud crash.

Convery looked up and saw a Penn Police officer exit his car with his gun drawn. Seeing the gun, she immediately dropped to the ground.

Rush later praised both Penn Police's and the garage workers' handling of the situation.

"It was an absolutely textbook response from every angle," she said. "We clearly had an appropriate level of personnel and appropriately trained personnel."

Rush added that while the area contains a large portion of off-campus housing for students, she believed police officers had acted correctly given the circumstances surrounding the incident.

"Police officers are trained to respond to the level of force that they're met with," she said. "There are instances where an officer has to make split-second decisions about the safety of his or her self or that of surrounding pedestrians."

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