Philadelphia customer turns 'tables' on suspected armed robber, shoots him with his own gun
The suspect was pronounced dead after police found him unresponsive with gunshot wounds to the groin and thigh
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A suspected robber in Philadelphia was shot dead when a customer in a smoke shop managed to get ahold of the suspect’s gun and shoot him, according to reports.
"At this point, we believe there was a robbery inside the smoke shop. Possibly the tables were turned on the robber and that's when the robber got shot and he was able to get in this Toyota in the passenger seat who was driven two-and-a-half blocks," Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Scott Small said, according to Fox 29.
The suspect allegedly went into the smoke shop in Philadelphia’s Olney neighborhood early Tuesday morning armed with a gun while a pair of men were getting cash out of an ATM inside the shop.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Photo of the shooting at a smoke shop in the Olney neighborhood of Philadelphia (Fox 29) (Fox 29 )
One of the men at the ATM, a 45-year-old, "pulled a Bruce Lee move" on the suspect and managed to get his gun and shoot the suspect, Fox 29 reported. During the incident, the 45-year-old accidentally shot his 36-year-old friend in the shoulder, the outlet reported.
Police said they responded to calls of two shooting victims at the smoke shop at about 1 a.m. Tuesday. Officers did not find any victims inside the smoke shop but determined it was the scene of a shooting due to blood and shell casings found at the location.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}PHILADELPHIA MURDERS MARK GRIM MILESTONE WITH 100 PEOPLE KILLED YEAR-TO-DATE, TOP COP SAYS
Photo of the shooting at a smoke shop in the Olney neighborhood of Philadelphia (Fox 29) (Fox 29 )
Officers then received another report of a shooting victim and found a man matching the description of the robbery suspect in the passenger’s seat of a stolen Toyota just blocks from the shop. The suspect, who was approximately 30 years old, was unresponsive and suffering with gunshot wounds to the groin and thigh. Small said the man was pronounced dead at about 2:30 a.m., police told Fox News Digital.
The Toyota was reportedly stolen last week in Philadelphia.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"We believe while that robbery was taking place someone fired shots striking the perpetrator who was the male inside the Toyota who was pronounced dead," Small said. "That's our preliminary information."
Photo of the shooting at a smoke shop in the Olney neighborhood of Philadelphia (Fox 29) (Fox 2)
The 36-year-old man who was reportedly accidentally shot in the shoulder was found in a local hospital. Both he and his 45-year-old are cooperating with police, according to Fox 29.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Employees of the smoke shop were behind a partition in the shop and were not involved in the shooting. The case is under active investigation and a security camera recorded the shooting.
Police are still searching for the person who drove the fatally shot suspect in the stolen Toyota. No arrests have been made.