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Gunman Who Shot PPD Officers Was Wearing Bulletproof Vest, Authorities Say

New details are emerging about the deadly shooting that wounded three Philadelphia police officers and killed a suspected gunman in Fox Chase last week. 

7500 block of Whitaker Avenue; a scene from the Oct. 4 shooting.

7500 block of Whitaker Avenue; a scene from the Oct. 4 shooting.

Photo Credit: Google Maps (Satellite)/Inset: Citizen App

Police said they were called to a home on the 7500 block of Whitaker Avenue around 7 p.m. Wednesday night, Oct. 4 for a report of an armed person. 

They arrived to find 42-year-old Michael Hwang wearing a ballistic vest and carrying a .40-caliber Glock, authorities said. 

Hwang allegedly ignored police commands to drop the weapon "and a gunfight ensued," police wrote. 

Officer Samantha Gress was shot in the back of her right leg, Officer John Hesdon was shot in the right leg, and an unnamed Sergeant was hit in the left hand, PPD said. 

Gress, Hesdon, and Sgt. James Borgia returned fire and shot Hwang, who was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the department. 

Police said he had eleven more rounds in his gun and two loaded magazines in his back pocket when he died. 

Before the police arrived, investigators said Hwang and a man in his late 30s had gotten into an argument inside the house before the gunman shot him in the face. He is in critical but stable condition at Abington Hospital, they added. 

 A boy and a woman were also in the home but were not hurt, police said.  

The officers were treated at Jefferson-Torresdale Hospital and placed in stable condition. 

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