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Philly police shoot man during traffic stop in Kensington

Police said a passenger in the car pulled a loaded gun and ran. An officer fired four times at him, striking him in the torso and face, police said.

Pieces of police crime scene tape in Philadelphia. DAVID MAIALETTI/Staff Photographer
Pieces of police crime scene tape in Philadelphia. DAVID MAIALETTI/Staff PhotographerRead moreDAVID MAIALETTI

Philadelphia police said an officer shot a passenger during a traffic stop Saturday night in Kensington after the man pulled a gun from his waistband.

Police provided the following account:

Officers had stopped a 2013 Hyundai Santa Fe in the 2800 block of Kensington Avenue after seeing it traveling in the wrong direction nearby on Hart Lane shortly before 11 p.m.

While one officer talked to the driver, a 26-year-old man, another questioned the passenger, a 22-year-old man, and noticed "a bulge" in his waistband. In patting it, the officer determined it was a handgun and drew his own gun. The passenger got out of the Santa Fe and pulled a gun from his waistband. As he ran from the vehicle, the officer who had been questioning him fired once at him. Another officer who had arrived and saw the passenger holding a gun shot at him four times, hitting him in the torso and face, causing him to drop a 9mm semi-automatic pistol loaded with 33 rounds and fall to the ground.

The man was arrested and taken to Temple University Hospital, where he was in critical condition Sunday, police said. It was not clear whether charges had been filed against him. Police said only that the driver had not been charged and that the investigation was continuing.

Police did not release the identities of the passenger or driver.