Police, FBI shoot 2 suspects in East Mount Airy, killing one
Police say that two men who exchanged gunfire with officers and FBI agents in East Mount Airy Monday afternoon were looking to have a shootout with cops in an attempt to avoid being taken into custody.
Update, 3:36 p.m.: The two suspects who exchanged gunfire with police and FBI agents in East Mount Airy Monday afternoon have been identified by a police source as Tevin Hammond, 21, and Justin Mackie, 19.
The pair, according to police, were wanted in several homicides, shootings and armed robberies throughout the city. Police recently put out a wanted flier for Mackie after obtaining an arrest warrant for him in connection with last Monday's shooting homicide of 20-year-old Tyrone Hayes, who was killed in the courtyard of the Norman Blumberg Apartments, at 23rd and Jefferson streets in North Philly.
Hammond, according to police, was pronounced dead at the scene. Mackie was taken to the hospital and listed in stable condition around 3:30 p.m. A police spokesman said one suspect's gun was recoverd at the scene as of 3 p.m., and police continued to investigate the shooting.
Court records show that Hammond was found guilty on a drug-dealing charge in 2012 and sentenced to five years' probation. Mackie, according to court records, was arrested in September 2011 for robbery, kidnapping, possession of an instrument of crime and several related offenses. He posted 10 percent of $50,000 bail then and was released from jail.
Update, 3:10 p.m.: Police say that two men who exchanged gunfire with officers and FBI agents in East Mount Airy Monday afternoon were looking to have a shootout with cops in an attempt to avoid being taken into custody.
Philadelphia police spokesman Lt. John Stanford said Philly officers and the FBI received information that two men wanted in several homicides and shootings throughout the city were in the area of Musgrave and Montana streets. At Musgrave and Sharpnack, Stanford said, officers came into contact with both suspects, who immediately opened fire on them.
A Philadelphia officer and an FBI agent returned fire, striking and killing a 21-year-old suspect and critically wounding the second, a 19-year-old, Stanford said. The 19-year-old was taken to Albert Einstein Medical Center with six gunshot wounds, police said, and was upgraded from critical to stable condition around 3 p.m.
Police have recovered one of the suspects' guns so far at the scene, Stanford said. It was unclear shortly after 3 o'clock exactly how many shots had been fired, but Stanford said numerous shell casings from both police and the suspects were found at the scene.
Stanford said he was unable to provide details on exactly which homicides and shootings the pair were wanted in connection with, but said several happened in North Philadelphia's 22nd District and in West Philadelphia. One of the shootings police sought the men in, he said, happened during a robbery of a cabdriver last month at Hortter Street and Chew Avenue.
Investigators received information on the suspects late last week that indicated they planned to engage police in a shootout to avoid being arrested, Stanford said.
"That was one of the statements they made, and police received information that they were going to shoot out with police, that they wouldn't be taken into custody." Stanford said.
Update, 2:20 p.m.: Police now say one of the suspects shot by Philadelphia police and the FBI was pronounced dead at the scene in East Mount Airy. The second suspect, wounded at least five times, was taken to Albert Einstein Medical Center and is listed in critical condition.
Philadelphia police officers and FBI agents opened fire on two suspects during an investigation in East Mount Airy Monday afternoon, killing one man and critically wounding the other.
Details of the officer-involved shooting, which happened at about 1:10 p.m., were sketchy about an hour after the shooting, but initial police reports said that Philly cops were assisting the FBI with an investigation in the area of Musgrave and Sharpnack streets when they came across the suspects. It was unclear shortly after the shooting what prompted at least one police officer and one FBI agent to open fire.
At 1:11 p.m., a city officer could be heard on police radio telling police dispatch, "Gunshots! Gunshots! 6613 Musgrave." For a few minutes that followed, officers searched for a suspect in an orange shirt. About 10 minutes later, police had two suspects in custody in the rear of a house on the 200 block of East Sharpnack, which runs perpendicular to the 6600 block of Musgrave.
One suspect was pronounced dead at the scene and the second was taken to Einstein in critical condition. Police said no officers or agents were injured.
An FBI spokesman would only confirm agents were involved and an investigation is underway. A city police spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Police remain at the scene investigating.