Shooter collides with police


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An accused gunman smashed into multiple police vehicles with his minivan near Whitman after eluding officers in West Philly.

Police observed a 41-year-old man chasing a man from an alley near the 500 block of North Paxton Street in West Philly at 3:40 a.m. yesterday, Officer Jill Russell of the Police Public Affairs Unit said. The 41-year-old identified the man as his shooter, whose name has not yet been released as his charges were being processed at press time.

The shooter fled the scene in a 1998 Ford Windstar and led police on about a 10-mile chase through West Philly, Center City and South Philly before “intentionally” ramming into three police vehicles near the Walt Whitman Bridge, Russell said. Following the crash, the offender, who had sustained minor injuries, ran from the car, at which time he was arrested.

The victim was transported to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in stable condition with a gunshot wound to his right leg, Russell said. No officers were harmed.

Contact Managing Editor Amanda L. Snyder at [email protected] or ext. 117.

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