2 Dead After West Philly Triple Shooting
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – Police say two people are dead after a robbery that went wrong resulted in a triple shooting Thursday night in West Philadelphia.
This happened just before 10:30 p.m. on the 5400 block of Media Street.
Police say two men in their twenties got off the trolley at 56th and Lansdowne Avenue and headed toward Media and Conestoga when two other men approached and announced a robbery.
One of the victims then reportedly pulled out a gun and shot those two robbers.
“Unbeknownst to the robbers, the 27-year-old victim has a permit to carry…has his handgun with him,” Police Lieutenant John Walker says. “He’s able to draw his handgun, firing multiple times, striking both robbery suspects.”
One of the robbers then returned fire and shot the friend of the armed robbery victim.
All three people who were shot were rushed to the hospital in critical condition. One of the robbers and the friend of the armed victim were later pronounced dead.
The other robber who was shot remains hospitalized and is said to be in stable condition. The robbery victim who shot the two robbers was not injured.
We have both tragedy and heroism in this story. The first tragedy is that two thugs felt the need to try and rob two innocent men of their belongings.
Instead of working and contributing to their own success, they would rather just intimidate someone with a gun.
The second tragedy is that one of the men being robbed we killed. What compounds the tragedy, and which anti-gun groups will no doubt point out, is that the victim who was killed may not have been shot had his friend, the other victim, not pull out his concealed weapon to shoot the robbers.
The two thugs were no doubt caught off guard when their victim turned the table and shot them booth.
As they tried to escape with their lives they fired back, hitting and killing the unarmed victim. All three were taken to the hospital where one robber and the victim later died.
The second thug is recovering and will soon face murder charges that will presumably put him away for the rest of his life.
The victim who did survive did so because he had foresight to carry a weapon and to be prepared to defend himself. Although some may suggest that had he not try to defend himself, both he and his friend would be alive today.
However, there is no proof to suggest these two thugs would not have shot them anyways once they finished robbing them.
Although we mourn the loss of his friend, we salute this man for standing up for himself and refusing to submit to the bad guys.
