Penn Police shot an alleged carjacker twice at about 11:00 a.m. today. He was taken to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and died from the gunshot wounds at about 12:40 p.m.
There were no other injuries reported.
The man was first seen by two Penn security guards allegedly attempting to steal a car in University parking at 33rd and Spruce streets, said Vice President of Public Safety Maureen Rush at a press conference at the scene of the incident.
He ran away from the guards, and carjacked a white van at gunpoint, dragging out the driver. The suspect then drove at high speed down Spruce Street to the 4000 block, where he crashed into a line of parked cars, causing a pile-up.
The security guards 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 the houses on the north side of Spruce Street. Police followed him, believing the man still had his firearm, Rush explained.
She 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 on the 4000 block of Preston Street between Spruce and Locust streets - but it was not yet clear who had pulled the trigger.
One shot discharged into the suspect's abdomen, but it's not yet known where the second bullet entered him.
He was taken to HUP immediately and went into surgery, but was pronounced dead around an hour and a half later.
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 heard a loud crash.
Convery looked up and saw a Penn Police officer exit his car with gun drawn. Seeing the gun, she dropped to the ground.
Nadine Speigel, who was at her boyfriend's apartment at 4039 Spruce St., also heard a crash and saw a large crowd of police officers gather behind her apartment.
"I looked out the window and saw the car vertical," she said.
Rabbi Levi Haskelevich of the Penn Lubavitch House, which is located across the street from where the suspect left his car, also heard a crash.
"We thought maybe the second floor window fell down," he said.
He saw the suspect get out of the car, and less than a minute later, Haskelevich said, Penn Police arrived in pursuit and asked him where the suspect had run.
"It was clear they were chasing him," Haskelevich said.
Penn Police do not yet know the name of the suspect because he did not have identification on him, Rush said at the press conference.
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