PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Police say a Philadelphia police detective driving an unmarked car shot and critically wounded a man who he mistakenly thought had a weapon and was trying to rob him.
Police say the 29-year-old detective, who joined the force in October 2011, was on his way back to headquarters Monday night after processing a crime scene, but as he was stopped in traffic he saw a man in the street with his arms extended and his hands together.
The detective said he believed the man was pointing a firearm, yelling, and about to rob him, so he fired four times from inside the vehicle, hitting the man in the stomach.
The man was taken to a hospital in critical but stable condition. Residents say he’s a known panhandler in the neighborhood.
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