Witness speaks out after man killed in police-involved shooting: 'I'm in shock'
PHILADELPHIA - A man who asked that we only use his first name, Tony, says the simple decision to leave his home during the halftime of the Eagles game to give a friend a ride at 55th and Chancellor Streets almost cost him his life.
Philadelphia police are investigating a series of events that led to an officer-involved shooting in West Philly Sunday night.
A domestic disturbance quickly led to a carjacking situation which prompted a police pursuit and officer-involved shooting in Kingsessing.
Tony was the witness and victim of what police described as a carjacking.
Man dead after officer-involved shooting in West Philly: police
A man is dead after police say a home dispute turned carjacking ended in an officer involved shooting in West Philadelphia Sunday evening.
"I’m in shock, I’m a little shook up, I’m jittery right now," he says. "I could tell that he was mentally ill, something was off with him, he wouldn’t take my money, he asked for my wallet and started searching through my id’s. He had the gun right at me the whole time."
Tony says when he unlocked the doors for his friend to get inside, the man opened the passenger door.
At one point, Tony says he tried to jump out of his truck and run.
"I ran three cars and he was just right there, and he had a gun, so there was no point, so I just stopped and I was on one side of the car and he was on the other side and I had my hands in the air, and I was just saying, 'What are you doing? Cam down, calm down,' you know, and he just wouldn’t calm down."
Tony detailed at least two occasions where he says the man was pointing his gun and it jammed.
"He was trying to do something with the gun and it jammed again, and that’s when the police came up and he jumped in my truck and spun off," he says.
Tony says the man hit him with his gun at one point, and he fell trying to run away. Other than a few bumps and bruises, he says he is physically OK.
Despite the terrifying moments, he said he was sorry to hear that the man died in a shooting.
"It's a shame," he says. "He wasn’t hostile, he was very calm, I thought it was a stick up, it just happened to be a delusional, crazy guy."