A naked man who went on a rampage was shot by a police officer and seriously wounded in North Philadelphia after punching out the windshield of a squad car early Saturday, police said.
About 5 a.m., an officer noticed the man near 22d Street and Allegheny Avenue "acting in a very unstable and violent manner," police spokesman Lt. John Stanford said.
The officer watched as the man picked up and threw a metal newspaper box, hurled "large rocks," and lay in the middle of the street in front of a SEPTA bus, Stanford said. The officer called for backup and met responding officers at 22d and Westmoreland Streets.
The man then approached the first officer's car, slamming his hands on the driver's-side door before turning his attention to another squad car, police said.
He punched that car's windshield, shattering the glass and sending shards flying into the front seats, where another officer was sitting.
In response, that officer drew his gun and fired twice, hitting the man once in the right chest and once in the right elbow, police said.
In spite of his wounds, the man walked a block and a half to Westmoreland and Woodstock Streets before collapsing.
He was listed in critical but stable condition at Temple University Hospital, Stanford said. Preliminary information indicated "something was wrong, either mental issues or narcotics," he said. The case is under investigation.
Police did not release the man's name or say whether he had been charged.
The officer who shot the man will be placed on administrative duty, pending investigations by Internal Affairs and the District Attorney's Office, standard procedure in officer-involved shootings.
No officers were injured, Stanford said.
Copyright 2013 - The Philadelphia Inquirer
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
