iradiophilly | News - Boy Fires at Police, Killed by Officers; Philly Goes Mask Optional, All Clear; Man Pleads Sextortion

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Boy Fires at Police, Killed by Officers; Philly Goes Mask Optional, All Clear; Man Pleads Sextortion

by: iradioal - Philadelphia, PA
started: 03/02/22 8:30 pm | updated: 03/02/22 8:30 pm

A 12-year-old boy was shot and killed by Philadelphia police on Tuesday evening, 3/1, after he fired a shot into an unmarked car with four plainclothes officers who were on a stakeout. The boy has been identified as Thomas Siderio Jr. It happened around 7:25 p.m. in the area of 18th and Barbara Streets in South Philadelphia. The officers were conducting surveillance as part of a gun investigation. They spotted two young males. The 17-year-old boy was wanted in connection to a social media post about a stolen gun. The undercover officers drove up to the pair and turned on the vehicle's police lights. That's when a shot was fired into the rear passenger window of the police car shattering the glass, hitting one officer in the face with shards of glass. Two officers got out of the car and one opened fire on Siderio. The 12-year-old boy was shot once in the upper back. He was taken to Penn Presbyterian Medical Center where he was pronounced dead at 7:29 p.m. Siderio had a Taurus 9mm semi-automatic handgun equipped with a laser. It had one round in the chamber and 5 in the clip. The weapon had been stolen. The officers have been placed on administrative duty pending an investigation.

Philadelphia Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw released this statement: "Last night, a young child with a gun in their hand purposely fired a weapon at our officers and by miracle, none of the officers suffered life-threatening injuries," Outlaw said. "However, the life of a young man was cut tragically short, and we should all be questioning how we as a society have failed him and so many other young people like him. I ask that our community come together and be the community - the village - that we were intended to be and that our children need. I assure the public that a fair and thorough investigation will be conducted by our Internal Affairs Division. Per protocol, these officers have been placed on administrative duty pending the outcome of the investigation."

Philadelphia health officials announced on Wednesday, 3/1, that the city is now at "Level 1 All Clear" COVID-19 response level. Masks are no longer required in most indoor settings effective immediately. They are still required in health care institutions, congregate settings, and on public transportation. City buildings will require masks until Monday, 3/7. After that, only unvaccinated staff will be required to double mask. Philadelphia schools are expected to drop the mask mandate next Wednesday, 3/9. Individual businesses and institutions are allowed to have their own mask/vaccine requirements. The mandate could come back if COVID cases go back up. (See responses levels below)

"So according to our COVID response levels, I now declare that Philadelphia is moving into the all-clear level, effective immediately," Dr. Cheryl Bettigole, the health commissioner of Philadelphia, said. "This means we will no longer be enforcing the indoor mask mandate in most settings. Youâ€™ll still need to wear masks in schools, all schools, including public, private, archdiocese, and charter and early child care."

SEE ALSO: Philadelphia COVID-19 Response Levels

A Bucks County man had pled guilty to the new crime of 'sextortion' for the sexual harassment of 15 young victims over Snapchat. 26-year-old Ian Pisarchuk pled guilty to 67 counts including multiple counts each of enticing a minor to produce child pornography, possession of child pornography, unlawful contact with a minor, corruption of minors, sexual extortion, stalking, terroristic threats, harassment, and cyber harassment of a child. Between 2016 and 2021, Pisarchuk contacted victims as young as 12-years-old via Snapchat. He would threaten them until they sent explicit photos. Once he had the images, he could extort and blackmail the victims even more. One of his victims ended up committing suicide. "Essentially when an individual threatens another either with physical violence or to expose them in someway in demand for either sexual photographs or sexual favors in some manner, it's a relatively new statute that came into effect about two years ago," Brittney Kern, the Bucks County Assistant District Attorney, said. "I believe this is the first case that we charged it in and now had someone plead guilty to do it in Bucks County."