Victim fatally shoots suspect during attempted car theft in Southwest Philadelphia
Police said the victim has a license to carry and was not injured.
PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Philadelphia police are investigating a car theft that ended with a suspect being fatally shot.
Police initially reported this as an attempted carjacking, but have since released new details about what happened.
Police responded to the 5800 block of Cobbs Creek Parkway in Southwest Philadelphia at about 8 a.m. after a suspect attempted to steal the victim's car.
Sources told Action News that the suspect attached yellow cables to attempt to tow away the car, but was shot by the homeowner who had come outside to see what was happening.
The car broke off from the cables and the suspect's car ended up crashing into a school bus, sources said.
The suspect was rushed to Penn Presbyterian Medical Center where he died from his injuries.
Police said Steven Thompson, the victim who shot the suspect, was arrested on charges of unlawful use of a firearm.
Investigators originally said that Thompson had a permit to carry.
Tuesday's shooting in the latest in a series of similar incidents.
On Thursday, 60-year-old Oliver Neal, said he was getting out of his car in West Mount Airy when two young men approached him and demanded his keys.
Neal says one of them had a gun and pointed it six inches from his face, so Neal says he had no choice but to fire his weapon.
"He said 'give me the keys.' By then I had my hand on my weapon and saw him tighten his grip and I knew I had to shoot," Neal said. "I think he shot first but I don't know. All I know is we went back and forth. I started shooting and next thing I know, he hops across the street, drops to the ground... I just kept shooting."
Earlier last week, another driver in Fairmount described how he made the split-second decision when the 18-year-old male suspect pointed a gun at him.
"I saw the gun and I thought he was going to shoot me and take the car, so I retaliated as fast as I could. And just to see another day, I had to shoot the guy," the victim said.
Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said the department will be using targeted patrols of both uniformed and plainclothes officers in what she called "carjacking hotspots."
She said the department will also be working with the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office to help with investigations.
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