Man says he gunned down would-be thief

HOMICIDE investigators are probing a shooting that left a 30-year-old man dead in Frankford on Thursday night.

Police were called to Josephine Street, a dark, desolate stretch of an alley off Orthodox Street near Torresdale Avenue, at 10:17 p.m.

When they arrived, they found the victim, whose name has yet to be released, suffering from a gunshot wound to the head.

Medics pronounced him dead on the sidewalk in the weeded alley. His body was splayed under a white sheet next to a pickup truck that was loaded down with trash bags.

Crime scene investigators combed the scene for evidence, bathed in the yellow glow of nearby street lights.

A 56-year-old man was at the scene and told police that he had shot the victim.

Officer Rafeeq Strickland, a police spokesman, said yesterday that the man claimed he opened fire after catching the younger man trying to break into his car.

Homicide detectives interviewed the man, but it was unclear if criminal charges would be filed.

Neighbors who lingered near the scene of the shooting Thursday night claimed that a thief had recently tried to break into a nearby property.

Chief Inspector Scott Small said investigators were surprised to encounter the man who allegedly pulled the trigger.

"It is unusual," he said. "Normally the shooter flees."

Small said detectives were checking several surveillance cameras in the area for any footage of the shooting. It was unclear yesterday whether the shooter had a permit to carry.