Police shoot and kill man wielding meat cleaver

Police killed a North Philadelphia man on Friday after he shrugged off a jolt from a Taser and, while weilding a meat cleaver, announced to a gathering of officers, "I'm not going to jail or the hospital."

The 53-year-old man, whose name has not been released, was struck in the chest and arm, said Lt. Frank Vanore, a police spokesman.

The man, whose last known address was in the 2600 block of North 12th Street, died at Temple University Hospital just after 4 p.m.

The man was visiting a family friend in the 1200 block of West Howard Street, just south of Lehigh Avenue, when he became enraged. The resident of the home fled down the street to call police, Vanore said.

Vanore did not know what had angered the man, or if the suspect had been using drugs or suffered from any mental illness.

"He obviously had some kind of issue," he said.

Officers arrived and tried talking to the man, who was then on the second floor of the home. They called for assistance from crisis intervention officers, who carry Tasers and are trained to deal with the mentally ill.

Negotiations and confrontations with the shirtless man moved back and forth between the house and the street.

At one point, an officer shot the suspect with a Taser, to no effect. The suspect, "continued to become violent," Vanore said.

The man, armed at various times with a knife and the cleaver, eventually charged at a group of six officers gathered on the street, he said.

One officer from the 22nd District fired, striking the suspect, he said. By standard procedure, the officer will be placed on desk duty, pending the outcome of the investigation.