PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) — Philadelphia police have identified the man who allegedly fired shots at several officers last week, and who was then killed when they returned fire.
Ricardo Sosa, 40, was pronounced dead at the hospital following the exchange of gunfire on Friday, July 4.
The video featured above is from a previous report.
It happened just before 6 p.m. on 2900 block of Lawrence Street in the city’s Fairhill section.
According to Philadelphia police, four officers were responding to a report of a man with a gun.
The officers had just approached a home when they were shot at from a fenced-in lot next door, investigators said.
The officers took cover behind a patrol car as more shots were fired at them from inside the home, police said.
Chopper 6 over police-involved shooting investigation in Fairhill
Sosa then allegedly came out of the home while actively shooting at the officers.
The officers returned fire as Sosa got into the driver’s side of an unoccupied police vehicle. Authorities say he continued to fire at police while trying to drive away.
Police say the officers continued to engage Sosa, who then got out of the vehicle and fell to the ground.
He was taken to Temple University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 6:24 p.m.
None of the officers were injured.
Police say a Smith & Wesson 9MM handgun, loaded with two live rounds and a fired cartridge casing in the chamber, was recovered from the front passenger side floor of the police vehicle Sosa had entered.
An additional fired cartridge casing was recovered from inside the vehicle, according to police.
The police department said all four officers have been placed on administrative duty, a standard procedure, pending the outcomes of investigations conducted by the Philadelphia Police Department’s Internal Affairs Bureau, the Officer-Involved Shooting Investigation Unit, and the District Attorney’s Office.
All of the officers are assigned to the 25h District. They are identified as:
Officer #1: Maria Mairone, 28, a three-year veteran
Officer #2: Scottie Martinez, 29, a two-year veteran
Officer #3: Ryan Perez, 34, a nine-year veteran
Officer #4: Carl Szylejko, 32, a seven-year veteran
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