An armed man who attempted to rob a cell phone store was shot and killed by a store employee Monday afternoon in Southwest Philadelphia, local police said.
The attempted robbery occurred just after 4:05 p.m., when an armed man described as being in his late 30s entered the Metro PCS store on Elmwood Avenue near 70th Street, reported CBS Philly.
.@CBSPhilly obtained this video showing a suspect who tried robbing a @MetroByTMobile store at 70th and Elmwood Ave. Police say the employee has a legal permit to carry. We paused the video before the shooting but the suspect in the armed robbery is dead. pic.twitter.com/BZIYf2MQj0
— Greg Argos (@GregArgosCBS3) August 27, 2019
The store’s surveillance camera captured the moment prior to the shooting. In the video obtained by CBS, a man wearing a hoodie is seen entering the store and pointing a handgun at a store employee. He then tossed, what the store owner said to be, a bag toward the sole employee, telling him to fill it with phones.
The employee, however, quickly pulled a handgun out of his pants and reportedly fired several times at the suspect killing him.
Philadelphia Police Capt. Scott Drissel told CBS Philly that police officers responding to the call were met by the store clerk at the scene when they arrived.
“He discharged his firearm at the robbery suspect numerous times, striking him,” Drissel said.
The MetroPCS worker, according to Drissel, has a legal permit to carry a firearm. He has not been charged with any crime, but the investigation continues.
Investigators say this MetroPCS place has been robbed at least two other times within the past year. It has became so common that police regularly visited the store for crime reports.
“There is police logbook in there,” Drissel said. “Officers will typically go inside the store and meet with the employees there and sign the logbook.”
Gun Laws of the Commonwealth
Pennsylvania, a state that traditionally honors the practice of open carry, allows its citizens to carry firearms in public without a license. There is, however, a law that requires a license to openly carry a firearm in the city of Philadelphia.
That said, Pennsylvania is a state with strict gun laws, according to Gifford Law Center. In order to purchase a handgun in Pennsylvania, a person must pass a background check. He or she must show government-issued photo identification and submit an application form. The gun dealer, who has to be licensed, is required to call the state police to check for criminal records. The state police search several databases, including federal ones, and inform the dealer of any issues that would prevent the sale.
Pennsylvania is also one of the Castle Doctrine states and has a “stand your ground” law, which eliminates the duty to retreat in your home or workplace if confronted with a deadly weapon. Under the law, the use of force against another person is justifiable if the person who acts in self-defense believes that the use of force is immediately necessary.
