Off-Duty Police Officer Involved In Gun Battle With Robbers At Pizza Shop As He Waits For His Order

An off-duty Philadelphia police officer was at the Rising Sun Pizza shop in Lawndale, Pennsylvania, waiting for his Stromboli order when two armed burglars entered the store and demanded money. The two armed men then put a gun to the officer’s head and took $20 from his hands. The suspects then pushed the man to the floor. As the pair informed the store that they intended to rob the place and brandished their weapons to the employees, the officer grabbed his Glock handgun and identified himself as an officer to the two suspects. A gun fight then ensued that left one of the robbers dead and the pizza shop riddled with bullets.

The Philly Confidential reports that an unnamed off-duty officer was picking up an order at the Rising Sun Pizza shop when two armed men busted through the doors. Upon entering, there was only one customer in the store, the off-duty officer. The men then pointed the gun at the officer’s head and took the $20 he was holding in his hand to pay for his Stromboli. They then pushed the man to the floor and told the employees that it was a robbery and they wanted all the store’s money.

When the pair of robbers turned away from the officer on the floor and addressed the 22-year-old shop owner and another employee behind the counter, the off-duty officer sprang into action. He pulled his Glock handgun and identified himself as an officer. The suspects then fired two rounds at the officer from just a couple feet away. Fortunately, the officer was not hit and was able to return fire.

Action News 6 reports that as the officer returned fire, one of the suspects was hit. The pair then bolted through the doors, dropping their revolver on the way out. The suspect who was hit by the officer collapsed in the street and was later pronounced dead. The second suspect ran from the scene and is still at large. Philadelphia police Chief Inspector Scott Small notes that the officer is lucky to be alive.

“The detective is extremely lucky that he was not shot, extremely lucky that he was not killed.”

The store owner says her front window is shattered from the bullets and that she captured the whole ordeal on the store’s surveillance cameras.

What do you think of the off-duty police officer’s actions?

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