Police Seek Teenager in Rittenhouse Shooting, Attempted Robbery

The 17-year-old tried to rob a couple he knew before shooting a Good Samaritan who attempted to intervene, according to police.

Photo: iStock/Mak_photo

Photo: iStock/Mak_photo

Police have issued an arrest warrant for a teenager they say shot a man five times in Rittenhouse Square on Tuesday night when the man tried to thwart the teenager’s robbery attempt.

Police said the 17-year-old, whose name has not been released, was with at least one other male when they approached a couple in Rittenhouse Square, one of the city’s busiest parks, and announced a robbery around 9:30 p.m.

The teenager took a gun that his accomplice had been carrying and shot multiple times at a 39-year-old male who had approached on his bicycle to try stop the robbery, police said. The teen and his accomplice were last seen near 19th and Walnut streets, fleeing on foot.

The teenager reportedly knew the 22-year-old man and 18-year-old woman he attempted to rob, which police said helped in the identification process. Police told CBS that they had searched the teenager’s South Philadelphia home Wednesday morning without success. His parents, who were home, were “very cooperative” but did not know where he was, police told the news outlet.

The victim was taken to Hahnemann Hospital Tuesday night and is currently in stable condition. Lt. John Stanford told the Inquirer that the Good Samaritan frequents the park, sometimes to sell water bottles.

Police said they are looking for at least one other suspect.

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