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18-year-old shot dead by Pa. State Police who say he hit 2 troopers with car amid illegal street racing on Interstate 95
Image source: YouTube screenshot, composite

18-year-old shot dead by Pa. State Police who say he hit 2 troopers with car amid illegal street racing on Interstate 95

An 18-year-old male was shot dead by Pennsylvania State Police officers who said he hit two troopers with his car amid illegal street racing on Interstate 95 in Philadelphia early Sunday morning.

What are the details?

State police told WTXF-TV officers were sent to the interstate highway near Penn's Landing around 3:30 a.m. and found several vehicles illegally blocking the roadway as other drivers were doing "burnouts" and "drifting" while numerous people watched.

Image source: YouTube screenshot

Police added to the station that as they attempted to approach a vehicle and its driver — identified as Anthony Allegrini Jr. — two troopers were hit by the car. Police noted to WTXF that one trooper shot Allegrini, and he was pronounced dead at the scene.

The troopers who were allegedly struck suffered minor injuries, NBC News said, citing state police.

'Car meet-up'

Allegrini's girlfriend, Reagan Hocking, told WTXF he had departed for what he called a "car meet-up" around 10 p.m. Saturday.

"He wasn’t answering," Hocking noted to the station. "That’s not normal for him at all."

She added to WXTF that she doesn't understand why it all ended with Allegrini being shot: "He was just such a beautiful soul. He would always listen to any adult figure that would come up to him. He was always so respectful. He would never be disrespectful to anyone."

When Hocking and Allegrini's parents arrived at the scene of the shooting Sunday morning, she said "his body was still ... on the ground, covered with a tarp," WPVI-TV reported.

Hocking also told the station that videos sent to her in the aftermath have left questions unanswered: "It was awful that the investigators would not give us any information."

Trooper pointing a gun

WTXF said it obtained several videos related to the shooting, including one that shows a trooper pointing a gun at a vehicle driving by as well as one that shows the aftermath with a trooper standing near a state police vehicle and someone on the roadway.

The station said it reached out to state police for comment on that footage.

Witnesses told WPVI that troopers shot Allegrini three times, but the station said police have not confirmed how many shots were fired during the incident.

Other illegal races that night

WTXF added in a separate story that it received video of several drivers performing illegal donuts and burnouts at the intersection of Cottman and Torresdale avenues in northeast Philadelphia Saturday night.

Image source: YouTube screenshot

The station said hundreds of people can be seen gathered at the intersection as vehicles performed the illegal racing with passengers hanging out of windows and roof openings.

Image source: YouTube screenshot

"Once again, our great city of Philadelphia was under siege by criminal activity involving illegal street-racing," FOP Lodge #5 President John McNesby told WTXF, adding that illegal racing also took place at a third location. "Another weekend of Philadelphia and state police officers putting themselves in danger to curb this criminal behavior."

The station said Mayor Jim Kenney condemned "this type of reckless and aggressive behavior," saying it "cannot and will not be tolerated. Dangerous actions like these put everyone in our city at risk, especially our officers who work hard to keep our residents safe. This is unacceptable."

Illegal street racing causes chaotic, deadly weekend in Philadelphia, police sayyoutu.be

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