Armed man shot by police in Nicetown

Police who pulled over a car riddled with bullet holes in the city's Nicetown section late Thursday night ended up shooting one of its occupants after investigators say the man leveled a loaded gun at the officers.

Two officers were on patrol near Erie Avenue and Carlisle Street around 11 p.m. when they spotted a Mercury Grand Marquis with its back window shot out and at least two other bullet holes in it driving in the area, Chief Inspector Scott Small said. The cops followed the car and pulled it over a few blocks away, near Germantown Avenue and Pike Street.

When the car was stopped, Small said, the passenger, a 40-year-old man, jumped out with a gun in his hand. The car sped off, and cops chased the man on foot before he turned and pointed the gun at them, Small said, prompting them to fire several shots at him, wounding him in the torso and legs.

He was taken to Temple University Hospital in critical condition. Small said the suspect dropped his loaded gun when he was shot, and cops recoverd it at the scene.

Minutes after the shooting, Small said, police located the Grand Marquis pockmarked with bullet holes on 15th Street near Butler unoccupied. That car was being held as a second scene and will be towed to be dusted for fingerprints, Small said.

No cops were injured in the incident, and the two officers involved were taken to be interviewed by Internal Affairs investigators, as is standard protocol with police-involved shootings. Both were in full uniform and driving a marked patrol car at the time of the shooting.

Cops remained at the scene investigating around 1 a.m. Friday.