An elderly man was taking a winter’s stroll on one of his favorite park trails outside Philadelphia on Wednesday afternoon when he was approached by a masked man.
The masked suspect, who was in his late teens or early twenties, approached the 67-year-old man and stuck a pistol in his face saying “gimme your money”. He had an accomplice who was carrying a stick, reports NBC 10.
After the suspect with the pellet gun got into a physical confrontation with the victim, the victim pulled out a .38-caliber handgun and shot him once in the head, killing him at the scene.
The shooter has a concealed weapons license and does not have a criminal record. He was taken to the hospital with chest pains, but is expected to recover, reports the Delaware County Daily Times.
The suspect’s accomplice, meanwhile, reportedly fled the scene and has not yet been found.
Upper Darby Police Superintendent Michael Chitwood told KYW that police thought the pellet gun looked like a real weapon until they got a closer look at it.
Chitwood told KYW he spoke to the 67-year-old who is very upset about the incident.
“He was very remorseful and wish it hadn’t happened and I and other detectives told him ‘you did nothing wrong,’” Chitwood told KYW.
“If I was the older guy I probably would have done the same thing, straight up,” Fred Williams of Upper Darby told KYW.
“People are getting fed up so you have to protect yourself these days,” neighbor Kathryn Coopertold KYW in an earlier story.
The 67-year-old was released from a hospital Thursday, after complaining of chest pains from the strain of the incident.
No charges against him are expected since he was acting in self-defense, Chitwood said.
“It’s a shame somebody had to die,” Chitwood told KYW, “but at the end of the day the bad guy pulled a stickup and lost.”
Sources: New York Daily News, NBC 10, Delaware County Daily Times