Levittown Shooting Suspect Killed By Philly Police After Pursuit

LEVITTOWN, PA — Police killed a man suspected of shooting another man in Middletown after a pursuit from Levittown to Philadelphia on Wednesday.

An officer from the Middletown Township Police Department was dispatched to 2000 Veterans Highway for a radio call that someone in the building may be armed, the Philadelphia Police Department said in a news release.

A subsequent release on Friday from the Bucks County District Attorney's Office said that the caller said a woman in the building was involved in a domestic assault with her boyfriend — Terrence Bey of Philadelphia — that Bey had grabbed his girlfriend by the throat and choked her, and that he might be armed. The officer saw 29-year-old Bey, a Black man, walking away from a parked Volvo and talking on the phone.

Then, the officer saw someone leave a first floor apartment through a sliding glass door and point to Bey, apparently indicating he had been the armed person. The officer walked toward Bey, calling to him to get his attention, according to the Philadelphia release.

Police said Bey turned around with his hand in his front waistband area and walked towards the officer. The officer drew his weapon, and told Bey to show his hands; Bey refused, and started running to the back of the apartment building.

The release said the officer chased after him but lost sight of him as he circled the building, and then heard a gunshot and glass shattering a short time later.

The news release detailed that when he returned to the front of the building, he saw that the sliding glass door to the first floor apartment had apparently been shattered by a bullet hole and saw a man leaving the apartment, apparently shot, holding his face and yelling, “He shot me, please help.”

The officer assisted the injured man in leaving the apartment when he saw Bey enter a Volvo, fleeing the scene. Once additional officers arrived, the original Middletown officer pursued Bey.

Police cars from several Bucks County Police Departments joined the pursuit, which eventually reached Philadelphia. At Whitaker Avenue and Roosevelt Boulevard, a Middletown officer used what's called a PIT maneuver to force Bey's car to turn sharply and stop.

The news release said Bey’s car had turned 180 degrees, and was now face-to-face with a Lower Makefield sergeant's vehicle. The sergeant said he saw Bey point what appeared to be a handgun at him, so he accelerated his vehicle and rammed Bey’s vehicle.

The sergeant then took cover under his dashboard and heard multiple gunshots, according to the release. He said he then saw Bey running across Roosevelt Boulevard, once pointing his firearm at the sergeant. The release said the sergeant then took cover again and lost sight of Bey, then heard gunshots.

A Lower Makefield officer then fired at least one round at Bey, after Bey pointed his weapon at the officer, the release said. A Philadelphia Police Department Counter Terrorism officer saw Bey running toward the Sunoco on Adams Avenue, and said he saw Bey shoot at police. Bey continued to run, according to the release.

Then, police say a 15th District officer fired at least once at Bey after Bey pointed his gun at him. The officer struck Bey in the head, according to the release.

Philadelphia Fire Department medics pronounced Bey dead at the scene.

Officers found that he had a Glock 22, .40 caliber semiautomatic firearm with an obliterated serial number. Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said that the Officer Involved Shootings Investigations Unit will conduct a thorough investigation and present findings to the District Attorney's Office.

“The decision to utilize deadly force is a decision that police officers hope they will never have to make,” she said. “This incident, which transpired across several jurisdictions, began with the shooting of a man in Bucks County, PA, and ended with the alleged shooter losing his life after engaging in a gun battle with police officers from multiple agencies."

She added that she hoped for a fast recovery for the initial shooting victim, and was grateful more were not injured.

Related: Man Shot By Police Suspected Of Choking Girlfriend: Bucks Co. DA

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