Motive in dispute as off-duty cop shoots man in Frankford

Carole Lawless was in the breezeway next to her rowhouse in Frankford yesterday afternoon when she heard a familiar voice calling her name - no, screaming her name.

She ran down the breezeway, past the gate and found her longtime neighbor Josh Taylor, who was staggering in front of his house on Worth Street near Margaret.

"He pulled off his shirt, and he had this big hole in the middle of his chest, with a little blood running down his stomach," Lawless said. "He said, 'The dude just next door just shot me! I'm going to die! I can't breathe!' "

The "dude" to whom Taylor was referring was, in fact, an off-duty Philadelphia police officer who was helping a relative move into the house next door to Lawless'.

Police officials, family members and neighbors told dramatically different versions of what exactly happened yesterday.

What no one disputes is that the off-duty cop, whose name police did not release, shot Taylor after some sort of confrontation.

Taylor, 23, was taken by a neighbor to Aria Health's Torresdale hospital, where he was listed in critical condition for most of the evening. Late last night, relatives said, hospital staff informed them that Taylor wasn't likely to survive.

The complicated tale started to unfold shortly before 4 p.m., when Taylor arrived on Worth Street with his girlfriend, Britney Britton, after they had gone food shopping.

Britton said she went into the couple's home, where they live with their son Zachary, 3, and daughter Brianna, 1.

Moments later, "Josh ran into the house, slammed the door and fell," said Britton, 22.

"I said, 'What are you running for?' And then he [the off-duty cop] opened the door like he was welcome in our house," Britton said.

"He didn't have a badge. He didn't have a warrant. He took a breath, looked at me, and shot Josh. And then he turned and ran."

Lawless, 53, said she and other neighbors had heard that Taylor and the off-duty cop had argued over a parking spot.

Police officials said the off-duty cop noticed that Taylor had walked in and out of a house on the street while carrying a handgun.

The officer exchanged words with Taylor and opened fire when Taylor allegedly pointed the weapon at him, said police spokesman Lt. Ray Evers.

A handgun was found at the scene, he said. The off-duty cop, an 18-year veteran of the force who works in West Philly's 18th District, was being interviewed by Internal Affairs investigators and will be placed on desk duty, Evers said.

Britton said that her boyfriend had a handgun in his pocket but that he had a permit for the weapon and had planned to go to a shooting range later in the evening.