Normally, you would consider a police station to be a safe haven. But that's not the way it worked out early this morning for a man parked outside the 18th district.
"For that to happen right on the corner of a police station, that's very frightening to me," West Philadelphia resident Jannice Vanderhost said.
It was also startling for the officers stationed here.
They heard the shots and came running outside to find the victim on the sidewalk and his car across the street where it drifted after the shooting.
"He couldn't have gotten any quicker response as it happened on our doorstep, literally. He was rushed to the hospital," Philadelphia Police Captain Ben Naish said.
The 25-year-old man was shot in the jaw and is expected to survive.
Police say they don't know what the victim was doing out in the area at 4:00 a.m., but they suspect he knows his assailants.
The 18th district is in a high crime area.
But, long time residents have always felt safe near the police station.
Not anymore.
Tanya Stevens had to carefully walk her daughter Jada around a puddle of blood.
"She didn't see it. That's why I hurried up and she didn't get a chance to see it,": Stevens said.
She says she used to let her children walk to school alone near the police station. But now, they'll have an escort.
"I live right up the street and for something like that to happen in front of the police station is very scary," Stevens said.
The gunman is still at large.
Police say there may have been more than one and they were seen fleeing in a car.
The police are hoping to learn more from the victim and they're asking for help from the public.
