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Two police officers, others shot near 51st and Sansom; suspect dead (updated)

September 17, 2016

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The 4700 block of Sansom Street, pictured here, and several other blocks remained closed Saturday morning (Photo by West Philly Local).

UPDATE (Sept. 17, 2016, 6:40 p.m.): Two police officers were shot and two civilians were killed, including the suspect, near 51st and Sansom Friday night in what started as an ambush of a police sergeant at about 11:20 p.m., police said.

Others shot included two people outside a bar near 51st and Sansom and two people inside a car nearby, according to police commissioner Richard Ross in an early morning press conference. A 25-year-old woman in the car was also killed, according to police, and the driver was in critical condition.

Police have identified the shooter as Nicholas Glenn, 25, of West Philly.

What Ross called a “completely bizarre situation” began when Glenn fired 18 shots at police Sgt. Sylvia Young as she sat inside her police cruiser at 52nd and Sansom. Young suffered a gunshot wound to the arm. Bullets also hit her protective vest. The suspect then shot four civilians and a University of Pennsylvania Police Department officer. Both police officers were in stable condition, according to police.

Police shot and killed Glenn after a foot pursuit that lasted a couple of blocks. The Penn police officer and other confronted the suspect along 48th Street between Sansom and Walnut and opened fire. The Penn officer was shot in the leg and the suspect was killed, Ross said.

Several blocks around 51st and Sansom were still closed to traffic and pedestrians on Saturday morning as the police investigation continued.

Police flooded into the area after a citywide alert went out requesting assistance. All public transportation was also shut down. Police reopened the search area, from 47th to 53rd Street and Market to Pine at about midnight.

Glenn had a long criminal record and police said they found a note on him in which he expresses animosity toward police.

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There was also shooting along 48th Street between Walnut and Sansom, where police continued the investigation Saturday morning (Photo by West Philly Local).

7 Comments For This Post

  1. Ina Says:

    Its a shame all this killing going so sad.

  2. Maureeeeeen Says:

    I hope this incident makes the PPD rethink moving to North Broad instead of 48th and Market. That area needs to be flooded with cops day and night.

  3. Hellifiknow Says:

    ^^^Is that still happening? Looks like 48th is still under construction. Oh but trust me there is too much developer money being poured into this neighborhood for police to continue to get shot. However, if more police were in this neighborhood on foot and on bikes there would be less likely that this would happen. The whole neighborhood knows where the hot spots are, which is likely why they were up there in the first place. The sergeant is lucky to be alive. But sad for the civilians that died because they just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. And sad that I’ve seen several tweets asking for prayers for the police but none for the dead and injured regular folks. Kind of the entire problem of Blacks and police in a nutshell. The community wants to be safe and work with police, they approach policing from an arrogant mindset, random nutcaes get easy access to guns and thus you have the clusterfuck and tragedy of last night.

  4. mlamond Says:

    Regarding the comment saying there were tweets asking for prayers for the police but not the “regular folks:” watch the police commissioner’s press conference where he repeatedly expresses concern for the “regular folks.” Very sincere expression of concern.

  5. gordon Says:

    EIGHT.

    TEEN.

    shots.

    What a shame.

    This is ‘merka’, folks, and the insane gun policy on handguns.

    Not praying for this. God doesn’t need prayers. Merka needs better handgun policies.

    By the way, in case anyone wants to go kill a civilian or a police officer, just head to the gun shop in south philly. A handgun starts around $300 or so. Toss in $35 or so for the background check and $50 for 150 rounds of ammo, and you have a lot of killing for under $400.

    Merka.

  6. WP Says:

    I’ll try this for the third time. I’m wondering if WPL is blocking comments. This has noting to do with gun laws. All I was trying to say is that the thug who shot the policewomen and other victims shouldn’t have been on the streets. You can check his record online. It’s public.

  7. tw Says:

    All prayers to the families. There will be no peace on earth until all is rectified by God in which his original plan will be peace on earth. Only God can help us because people are too wicked and following Satan way.

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