North Philadelphia man shoots, kills female burglar breaking into his home

A home intruder was fatally shot by a North Philadelphia man on Sunday afternoon after she climbed through the back window of his home. Philadelphia Police Inspector D.F. Pace said that the woman had entered the home and was asked by the residents to leave, but did not comply. 

The man who lives at the residence located on the 2300 block of North Cleveland Street is licensed to carry, and shot the intruder multiple times after she broke into the building at around 1 pm. The man called police when she was no longer a threat, and assisted the woman and officers by carrying her to the police car, the Daily Mail reported. She was pronounced dead at Temple University Hospital at 1:49 pm.

Pace said, "It appears that this is a case of a person defending oneself inside their own home." He said the people inside the home "heard the glass break, went to see what was going on and saw a person attempting to come in through the back window."

"Those residents of that house told that person to get back, get out, but that person continued to come into the home based on the information that we have so far," he added. "The homeowners, the person who shot at the person breaking in, actually attempted to assist that individual after that person was shot and was no longer a threat, assisting officers by helping carry that person into the car, into a waiting police car."

Speaking with ABC6, neighbor Shawnee said, "he was just protecting his house." She had just returned home when she heard gunfire. "I just left the race, came home, changed my uniform, sat down and watched a little TV, and I heard a little pop pop pop. Next thing you know, I came back out, and the tape and all that stuff was up, and then they said my neighbor caught somebody, the dog must've been barking, caught somebody trying to break in his house."

She added, "He used his firearm to protect what he owns." 

"Good neighbor, very good neighbor. Good with kids, the little kids were crying when they saw him come out with handcuffs and stuff like that."

She said that the two homes nextdoor have been vacant, which have lead to issues with squatters. "We've been having a problem with these two houses right here ever since last summer. People were calling 311 and all this stuff because they've been drug infested, we had people all night just knocking on the door arguing, fighting, and stuff."