A Philadelphia man with a concealed gun-carry permit shot at and scared off a would-be home invader on Thursday when he spotted him trying to break into a neighbor's apartment.
The good Samaritan reportedly saw the burglar attempting to climb through the window of one of the units at Wynnefield Terrace Apartments around 7:15 in the morning. When he approached the man, police say the would-be intruder threatened the concealed carrier, which prompted him to fire a single shot.
"The person whose identity we don't know went into his waistband, and the citizen who does have a permit to carry produced his firearm and fired in the direction of the would-be burglar," Capt. Sekou Kinebrew, a Philadelphia Police Department spokesperson, told WPVI.
The potential burglar then fled the area on foot. It is not clear if the intruder was struck by the shot fired by the concealed carrier, but police said they were canvassing local hospitals as part of their search for the man.
Neighbors told the news station that a man had been spotted peering into people's apartments in recent weeks.
"She said it had to be the same guy who was looking into her window, peeping at her," one neighbor told WPVI. "It's weird."
The concealed carrier had been asked by his mother-in-law to look around the property after she noticed a man looking into people's windows, according to CBS3. That's how the concealed carrier came into contact with the man.
The police also reported there had been a number of burglaries in the area. Neighbors had heard of those reports as well.
"I think the same guy who has been trying to break into these houses tried to make another break in and he was caught," the neighbor said.