Update (3:36 p.m.): Police have identified the victim as 20-year-old Philippe Holland from Upper Darby. The Philadelphia Inquirer is reporting that Holland works for Slices and More in Upper Darby. A police report that we received on Wednesday afternoon stated that when ordered to stop, Holland fled to his gold Ford Taurus on Willows, backed out the parking spot and drove “forward toward the officers.” Two officers fired several shots each, striking both Holland and the vehicle. Holland, who was delivering a pizza to a home nearby, was shot in the leg, neck and head. He remains in critical condition at HUP.
A top Philadelphia Police official told reporters on Wednesday that the man plain-clothes police shot last night near 51st and Willows may have been a pizza delivery driver who tried to flee in his vehicle because he thought he was being robbed.
The shooting took place at about 10 p.m. on Tuesday night when police responded to gunshots near 51st and Baltimore. Neighbors reported hearing a couple of shots fired in the area and after a couple of minutes more shots.
Deputy Commissioner Richard Ross told reporters that the man was walking down the sidewalk when police approached him and identified themselves. Ross said the man apparently misunderstood the officers and fled to his car and drove at a high rate of speed toward the officers.
“The officers then discharged out of fear for their lives,” Ross said.
The man was struck three times, according to police. He is expected to survive.
Ross said the man was unarmed. No police officers were injured in the incident.
An investigation into the shooting is underway.
April 23rd, 2014 at 12:03 pm
cowards. this is disgusting.
April 23rd, 2014 at 12:06 pm
Truly disgusting. The police no longer know how to do their jobs. They are worse than the thugs they think they are saving us from. A pizza delivery guy. Shame on them.
April 23rd, 2014 at 12:46 pm
Did they make sure to smash his cellphone and rip his testicles off too?
April 23rd, 2014 at 1:04 pm
Lying ass police, they saw the vehicle he got out of, and I don’t believe he tried to run them over
April 23rd, 2014 at 1:56 pm
I was there, parking my bike at 50th and Willows, at the corner in front of the fire house. I heard the shots. Shortly thereafter, I saw 2 cop cars come down willows and turn down 50th street and speed away down 50th street. This was well before the other police cars started responding to the call, which was about 30 seconds later. I thought it was really strange at the time, to hear gun shots and see two cop cars speeding away. It still is strange to me now, it doesn’t make any sense. Does anyone have a theory about what really happened here?
April 23rd, 2014 at 2:16 pm
And then when I was putting out my garbage several hours later (midnight-ish), I thought I heard more shooting. Yes?
April 23rd, 2014 at 8:24 pm
I’m a neighbor who lives nearby and I’m going to bring flowers (and more importantly, a note he can read when he’s recovering) to the hospital. Feel free to do the same.
April 24th, 2014 at 10:12 am
west philly citizen, after the car crashed the police blocked 51st Street to traffic. It might have had to do with manuevering to set up that.
April 24th, 2014 at 10:29 am
Would like to know the details of this. Did the delivery guy have any other option on which way to drive his car? Did he purposely swerve at the police officers? A poster above mentioned that he saw the police cars drive off after the shooting which would seem to indicate that they seriously screwed up and knew it. I’m glad to hear that the police are out trying to find that shooter, but this is clearly gross negligence. These officers will probably face no repercussions worse than a couple months paid leave. Absolutely disgusting.
>“The officers then discharged out of fear for their lives,”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nt6kKhlX8vU&t=0m12s
April 24th, 2014 at 10:43 am
No one is going to point out how this is south West Philadelphia not west. Also a robbery was going on, the cops were just acting out of the best interest for their lives.
April 24th, 2014 at 12:58 pm
Mr Me,
It’s West Philly what are you a realtor… or is Dock Street now in SW Philly too?
April 24th, 2014 at 6:26 pm
how fast could you possibly back up from a stop? 5mph? even if the accelerator was floored. these cops didnt want to move out of the way they wanted to stand their ground and shoot this guy in the head. im sure this guy didnt want to hurt anybody. he was in fear of his life. and with good cause, cos these cowards shot him in the head instead of handling the situation in a manner which didnot involve harming anybody? “the cops were just acting out of the best interest for their lives.” keep regurgitating the headlines. you have to be kidding me. take one second to think about the scenario. sure i wasnt there. neither were you. but there no reason, plain clothed cops should be shooting an innocent unarmed person in the head.
April 28th, 2014 at 12:29 pm
Shame on the Philadelphia Police Department! These atrocities must STOP!!! Why not go after real criminals instead of pizza delivery guys?!?!?!?!