The man was charged after police said a struggle over a loaded gun unfolded behind a Kensington Avenue property.
PHILADELPHIA, PA — A Philadelphia police sergeant shot and wounded a 39-year-old man Saturday morning in Kensington after a reported disturbance led to a chase and a struggle over a gun, police said.
The shooting brought another officer-involved shooting review to one of the city’s busiest public safety corridors. Police said the man survived and was listed in stable condition at Temple University Hospital. The sergeant was placed on administrative duty while the Police Department, Internal Affairs and the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office review what happened.
The incident began just after 10:22 a.m. Saturday near Kensington Avenue and Hart Lane, authorities said. Police said a 36-year-old sergeant assigned as a street supervisor in the Kensington Police District was in uniform when a person flagged him down. The person told the sergeant that he had been involved in a disturbance with a man who was armed. Police said the sergeant approached the man and a confrontation followed. During the encounter, a brief physical fight broke out between the man and the person who had flagged down police. The man then ran south on Kensington Avenue, police said. The sergeant chased him behind a property on the 2800 block of Kensington Avenue.
Police said the man fell during the foot chase while he had a firearm. A struggle followed between the sergeant and the man over control of the weapon, authorities said. Police said the sergeant repeatedly ordered the man to drop the gun. Investigators said the man began raising the firearm during the struggle, and the sergeant fired one round. The bullet struck the man in the wrist and chest, police said. Responding officers gave aid at the scene and took the man to Temple University Hospital. No officers or other civilians were reported injured. Police said officers recovered a gun loaded with 11 rounds in the magazine and one round in the chamber.
Authorities said body-worn cameras were activated during the incident, and police recovered video from nearby surveillance cameras. Police said the video shows the man falling during the chase, dropping the gun, picking it back up and struggling with the sergeant over the weapon. A witness who said he recorded the encounter told a local television station that the man had robbed a food store on Kensington Avenue moments before the shooting. Police did not immediately release the man’s name or identify the sergeant. It was not immediately clear whether the recovered firearm had been fired before the sergeant discharged his weapon.
The man was charged with aggravated assault and related offenses, police said. The full list of charges was not immediately released in early reports. The sergeant’s move to administrative duty follows Philadelphia Police Department policy after officer-involved shootings. The department defines an officer-involved shooting as a discharge of a firearm by an officer, whether accidental or intentional. In cases where an officer fires at a person, the department’s Officer-Involved Shooting Investigation Unit reviews the shooting. Internal Affairs also reviews the case, and the District Attorney’s Office examines whether the shooting fits within state law.
The shooting happened along a stretch of Kensington Avenue lined with corner stores, small businesses and heavy foot traffic. Images from the scene showed investigators working near a corner store while police tape and patrol vehicles blocked part of the area. The 2800 block of Kensington Avenue sits near the Market-Frankford Line and several blocks from other recent gun violence scenes in the neighborhood. Earlier this month, police investigated a fatal shooting near Kensington Avenue and East Clearfield Street after a man was shot several times and collapsed nearby. That earlier case was separate from Saturday’s officer-involved shooting.
Police said the investigation remains active. The next steps include review of the sergeant’s body-worn camera, nearby surveillance video, witness statements and the recovered firearm. The department’s Use of Force Review Board may later review whether the force used followed policy. The District Attorney’s Office also can determine whether the shooting was legally justified or whether further action is warranted. No date for the next public update had been announced by late Saturday.
As of Sunday, the wounded man was expected to remain under police custody while the criminal case moves forward. Investigators had not released additional details about the original disturbance, the reported robbery claim or the full path of the chase. The case remains under review by police and prosecutors.
Author note: Last updated May 24, 2026.