Cops: Man fatally shoots assailant in botched robbery

delcotimes.com

Upper Darby police are investigating a fatal midday shooting by a 67-year-old man who was allegedly targeted for robbery Wednesday while walking in Cobbs Creek Park near the township’s border with West Philadelphia.

“At this point, I don’t see any charges being filed,” said Upper Darby police Superintendent Mike Chitwood.

The shooter, a Philadelphia man with a permit to carry a concealed weapon, told police he was walking by himself through the park around 2:30 p.m. when he heard someone running up behind him.

“When he turns around, he sees a guy with a mask covering half of his face and he’s got a gun in his right hand,” Chitwood said...

After the robber demanded money, Chitwood said the older man “immediately reached out to the gunman’s right hand” and attempted to take control of the gun.

“A struggle ensues — this is a 67-year-old tangling with a much younger man — and as (the robbery victim) starts to lose his balance, he reaches into his waistband and pulls out his gun, a .38-caliber revolver,” Chitwood said. “As he’s falling backwards, he fires one shot.”

The robbery suspect, described as a black male in his late teens or early 20s, was shot once in the head and pronounced dead at the scene.