A Philadelphia man acted in self-defense when he shot a 16-year-old who attempted to rob him using a fake gun, according to police. The incident occurred just after 11 p.m. Sunday in the city’s Kensington neighborhood, as reported by 6abc in Philadelphia.

The 16-year-old suspect, along with an accomplice, approached the 21-year-old man on the street and attempted to rob him by flashing what appeared to be a firearm. Unbeknownst to the teens, the victim was armed with a real 9 mm pistol and was also licensed to carry. In response to the threat, the man drew and fired his weapon, wounding the suspect in the leg as he turned to flee.

Philadelphia police say the shooting, which was caught on surveillance video, was a clear case of self-defense.

“The victim ran up to a vehicle that was parked, and the operator of that vehicle is licensed to carry,” an officer said in scanner traffic when police arrived at the scene and reported by 6abc..

The wounded teen was taken to St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children, where he remains in stable condition. Officers recovered both a fake gun, which was used in the robbery attempt, and the 9 mm pistol fired by the victim.

“We heard gunshots, bang, bang, bang,” a neighbor, who wished to remain anonymous, told 6abc. “We looked out and saw somebody running and a guy running. It’s unusual on this block.”

According to data from 6abc, there have been 27 self-defense shootings in Philadelphia over the last year, down from 37 the previous year and 49 the year before that.

This incident serves as a reminder of the importance of self-defense rights for law-abiding citizens, particularly in cities facing high crime rates.

22 COMMENTS

    • I was going to call that out as well.

      The journalism source incorrectly refers to the armed robber as a “victim” when the correct designation is an armed robber or armed attacker.

      • Many “journalists” are on the left-side of the fence and see criminals as “victims of society” and the victim as deserving of being targeted by criminals.

      • Oooh!!! I’ve just been GHOSTED again by TTAG. No censorship here, I promise (fingers crossed behind my back).

  1. If the number of self defense shootings are dropping year by year then an armed populous is working.

  2. “…wounding the suspect in the leg as he turned to flee.”

    “We looked out and saw somebody running and a guy running.”

    Lawyers happy hunting ground.

  3. “Officers recovered both a fake gun, which was used in the robbery attempt, and the 9 mm pistol fired by the victim.”

    “Recovered”? So the cops got their gun back? The one the victim OWNED, and defended himself with in a “clear case of self defense”? When does the victim get HIS weapon back?

    • Philly…..when he buys a new one. With that said if the cops are saying self defense from the video it may happen for the first time I ever heard of it.

  4. If the “yute” had been armed with a 12 gauge shotgun (that’s small caliber, isn’t it?) loaded with “harmless buckshot,” then Yamhill County Judge Ladd Wiles and Judge Easterday would be convicting the robbery victim of murder.

  5. And he was just turning his life around… before an armed citizen forced him to turn his ass around instead.

  6. We had a similar situation here in Utica, NY. A Burmese teen (age 13) pulled a gun on a police officer and was subsequently shot to death. It turns out the “gun” was a pellet gun.

  7. This happened in my town, A juvenile moron with his friends decided it was fun to drive around and one of then hung out the passenger window and squirted pedestrians with a black squirt pistol that looked like the real thing.
    At an intersection a man was walking and waiting for the signal to cross the street when the morons pulled up and pointed the squirt gun at him. He drew his 9mm and lit up their ass. They sped away and were later located at a local hospital. The man called 911 and reported that he was under the impression that he was going to be robbed at gunpoint. After an investigation, No charges filed.

  8. Years ago we had an idiot with a replica try to rob us. Basically: I drew my real gun, he dropped his replica gun, peed his pants, and ran. Police caught him a little ways away besides a business that had a garden hose out, trying to wash the pee out of his pants. He had used that replica to rob a few others before he got to us.

  9. Law-abiding Killadelphia residents gotta get those numbers up, since the popo and DA Larry KrasNER won’t do the job it’s up to the populace to dispose of the refuse littering the community.

  10. Except for the time Dillinger broke out of jail using a block of wood carved in the shaped of a pistol and blackened with shoe polish.

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