PHILADELPHIA, PA – A 35-year-old woman remains in critical condition after she was shot multiple times by police early Sunday morning in an armed confrontation in North Philadelphia.
The shooting occurred around 4:11 a.m. near the 900 block of West Erie Avenue in the city’s 25th Police District.
Officers were responding to a report of a person with a gun when they found the woman holding a firearm to her head.
Officers order suspect to drop weapon
Police said officers issued repeated commands for the woman to drop the gun, but she refused. One officer deployed a Taser, striking her, though it appeared to have no effect. Moments later, the woman ran across Erie Avenue and pointed the weapon toward the officers.
Two officers then fired their duty weapons, hitting her multiple times. She fell to the ground and dropped the gun as officers moved in to secure the scene and provide aid.
Loaded gun recovered at scene
The woman was transported to Temple University Hospital, where she remains in critical condition. Investigators recovered a .22 caliber Kel-Tec handgun at the scene. The gun’s serial number had been obliterated, and it was loaded with one round in the chamber and nineteen in the magazine.
Police said no officers or civilians were injured during the encounter. All officers involved were wearing activated body cameras throughout the incident.
Investigation underway by multiple units
The woman has been charged with aggravated assault on police and violations of the Uniform Firearms Act. The case remains under investigation by the Philadelphia Police Department’s Officer Involved Shooting Investigation Unit, Internal Affairs Bureau, and the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office.
The investigation follows an early morning police encounter in North Philadelphia that ended with a suspect critically wounded and officers uninjured.