Man fatally shot by police amid struggle in North Philly

A man was fatally shot by police late Friday afternoon in North Philadelphia amid a struggle with officers who had been responding to a report of someone trying to steal a car, police said.

Chief Inspector Scott Small said the incident happened about 5 p.m., when officers responding to a report of a vehicle theft at Eighth Street and Allegheny Avenue were met by civilians who pointed them to a car with a man inside.

When the officers approached the suspect, a 31-year-old man who was sitting in the passenger seat, "he jumped out of the car and started pulling on the gun" belonging to one of the officers, Small said.

After some moments, the man, whose name was not released, stopped the struggle, Small said. But when backup officers arrived, the struggle began anew, with the suspect again trying to grab a service weapon from one of the arriving officers. This time, police fired, striking him in the shoulder.

Small said police drove him to Temple University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 5:33 p.m.

As is routine, the shooting will be investigated by the Police Department's shooting review team and Internal Affairs Unit and the District Attorney's Office. The officers involved will be reassigned to desk duty pending outcome of the probe.