Police Shooting in West Kensington

A gun inside a car precipitated a police shooting outside a Philly bar early Sunday.

Two officers responded to a report of a fight at the Sidekick Sports Bar in West Kensington early Sunday morning.

When they arrived, the officers were pointed towards a vehicle parked outside the bar. Inside the car were four men.

While approaching the vehicle, the officers spotted a handgun laying out on the car's middle console. The officers drew their weapons, and then someone inside the car allegedly picked up the gun, authorities said.

Threatened, the officers opened fire, cops said. 

According to authorities, the police discharged three times. At that point, the car pulled away to escape. The vehicle got to the hundred block of Diamond Street when the driver lost control and crashed.

Three of the men ran from the damaged vehicle and eluded arrest. The fourth man was collared by the original responding officers. While apprehending the man, described as Hispanic in his early twenties, one of the officers injured his hand, cops said.

The injured officer was taken to Episcopal Hospital, where he was treated and then released.

In the crashed car, blood was found in the driver's seat. Investigators believe that one of the men had been grazed by a bullet. A search of area hospitals did not turn up any of the suspects, cops said.

The three men, also described as Hispanic, remained at large on Sunday afternoon.


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