Teen shoots robber strangling his mom in Philly pizza shop, blood trail leads to suspect
On Thursday night, a kid stopped a group of guys attempting to loot a Philadelphia pizza shop by shooting one of the suspects in the face. According to Philadelphia Police, the robbery attempt occurred around 10 pm when three guys entered the Philadelphia restaurant and demanded money from the cash register. One of the males reportedly choked a female employee, who claimed she couldn't open the register without a code at one point.
During the attempted heist, her 14-year-old son was present in the pizzeria. According to police and other restaurant employees, he pulled a revolver from behind the counter and shot the man in the face when he started choking his mother.
All three males then bolted from the scene. Police were able to track a trail of blood from the eatery to a metro station. The wounded suspect, who was bleeding heavily, was apprehended there.
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The police description says, "Officers followed a blood trail from [the restaurant], and when they approached Spring Garden Street, many witnesses coming out of the subway entrance said that there was a male with a face full of blood in the subway. Officers entered the subway and saw a man with blood trickling from his face seated within the concourse. He was dressed as stated in the robbery at 1501 Spring Garden Street flash information."
Police discovered a considerable sum of cash in his pockets, but no firearm. It's unclear if the man was armed or just pretending to be armed during the attempted heist. He was rushed to a hospital for treatment, and his condition was last reported to be serious. The other two are still at large.
Police are looking into whether the three individuals who attempted to loot the pizza were also involved in another crime in the vicinity. Three reportedly armed males entered a drugstore two blocks away and robbed it around five minutes before the suspects arrived at the restaurant. The pharmacy's surveillance footage is being examined to determine if the males match the descriptions offered by pizzeria employees who are collaborating with authorities.
After the individuals came and made threats, many employees allegedly fled the site. Police are on the lookout for them in order to gather further eyewitness evidence. Robberies and burglaries have increased significantly in major cities around the United States in 2021. On Tuesday, a bill was passed in San Francisco that would allow retailers to hire local sheriff's officers to tackle the increasing tide of theft. The bill was written by City Supervisor Ahsha Safai.
"This law wants to broaden the availability of not just our police officers who are authorised to be employed by private enterprises under current city standards, but also our sheriffs," Safai added. "Many private organisations were having difficulty meeting the demand. Even on a private entity's money, there weren't enough cops available for overtime to be employed."