The attorney for the slain suspect in a rampage shooting that left a woman dead and five others, including two police officers, injured, spoke to NBC10 about his former client.
“You obviously never like to see anything like this happen,” said Anthony Petrone, the attorney for Nicholas Glenn. “A tragedy for the victims and Nicholas’ family. Not a complete surprise but nothing I could have predicted.”
Police say Glenn, 25, walked up to Philadelphia Police Sergeant Sylvia Young’s marked police cruiser on 52nd and Sansom streets around 11:20 p.m. Friday, took out a Ruger Model SR9, 9mm semi-automatic pistol and opened fire, striking Young several times. He then continued on Sansom Street and went on a random shooting spree before he was eventually shot to death by responding police officers, investigators said. A 25-year-old woman died while Sergeant Young, a University of Pennsylvania police officer and three civilians were injured during the ordeal.
After Glenn was killed, police found a note in his possession with the headline, “Doomed People.” It included rambling, unclear statements that implied a hatred towards Glenn’s probation/parole officers as well as police.
"It is rambling," said Philadelphia Police Commissioner Richard Ross. "It would be very difficult to glean anything from that. It's more about himself than it is about who he wanted to harm."
Police sources told NBC10 Glenn had a lengthy criminal record and was arrested more than a dozen times. During an interview with NBC10 Saturday night, Petrone described his former client’s volatile time in jail.
“He had some prison infractions for fighting,” Petrone said. “So he was in solitary for most of his time during what I remember was seven months up on State Road.”
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Petrone said he noticed a change in Glenn during his stint in jail.
“I did notice with him a serious change in his attitude and overall demeanor during the period of time that he was incarcerated up in the county prison,” Petrone said. “I remember visiting him frequently and he had to be pulled out of solitary and I remember he was having a very difficult time in dealing with the solitary confinement.”
Petrone said Glenn slowly became “more and more despondent.”
“I was having more difficulty communicating with him during that period of time he was incarcerated,” Petrone said. “I kind of saw a change in his demeanor.”
Police continue to investigate Glenn’s motive in the shooting but say at this point they don’t believe he was affiliated with any group.
