A man who allegedly broke into a Jewish family’s Philadelphia home on Monday was killed after being shot by a neighbor, according to the Philadelphia Police Department.
Officer Miguel Torres, a spokesman for the department, told JNS that police officers responded to a 911 call for a person with a gun at the Griffith Street residence at 1:10 a.m. on Monday.
“A male suspect forcibly entered the property, where eventually a struggle ensued, and the suspect was shot,” Torres told JNS.
Torres confirmed reports that the suspect entered a child’s bedroom in the victim’s home and that “a neighbor came to help the victim and shot the suspect.”
“The suspect suffered a gunshot wound to the chest,” he told JNS. “Police immediately transported him to Jefferson-Torresdale Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 1:39 a.m.”
Police officers and homicide detectives secured the scene, and an investigation is ongoing, according to Torres.
The homeowner was Evelyn Leiva, according to local reporting. She reportedly said that a loud noise woke her and that she discovered a man inside her teenage daughter’s bedroom.
She told local outlets that she struggled with the intruder and screamed, waking up her daughter and alerting the neighbor.
There was no indication that the family was targeted as Jews, but some encouraged Jews on social media to arm themselves.
“Time for all Jews to be armed and trained,” one user wrote.
