39th District Shooting: Man shot by Philadelphia officer in Hunting Park, sources say

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) — A man was shot by Philadelphia police inside the 39th District Building after allegedly lunging at an officer with a screwdriver.

It happened around 9:19 am Wednesday at the building in Hunting Park.

Police say the 23-year-old suspect was trying to communicate with an officer through protective glass, but the officer couldn’t hear the man – who was wearing a mask.

The officer then opened the side door to the office, and that’s when the suspect lunged with the screwdriver, officials say.

There was a struggle involving the three officers inside.

“They attempted to disarm this individual while he was swinging the screwdriver in their direction – this was all within about 30 seconds. Right around that time one of the officers that was in the operations room fired at least one shot at this individual , striking him in to torso,” said Philadelphia police spokesman Sgt. Eric Gripp.

One of those officers, described as a 32-year-old woman with seven years on the force, fired her weapon.

The suspect was shot in the chest. He was taken to the hospital in critical condition.

A male officer suffered a head injury during the scuffle. Officials believe he suffered that injury during a fall and do not believe he was stabilized with the screwdriver.

The officer who was injured was taken to the hospital to be treated.