Philly police officer shot in the hand during standoff was struck by ‘friendly fire,’ officials say

Philadelphia police identified the man who was fatally shot by officers during a standoff in Kensington last week as Dimitri Klimov, 36, who they said was armed but did not fire any shots at police. And they said an officer at the scene who was shot in the hand was accidentally struck by a bullet fired by a colleague.

About 7:30 p.m. on May 31, police said, officers nearby heard gunshots coming from the 2800 block of Ruth Street. According to preliminary information from police, here’s what happened next:

Klimov was arguing with a group of men outside his home, then went inside to retrieve a gun, came back out, and fired two shots. He then ran back into the house. No one was injured.

Officers Thomas Ditro and his partner, sitting in their cruiser nearby, heard the shots and saw people running, as they responded to the block. Sgt. Michael Spicer also arrived at the scene, as did a fourth officer. They found one fired bullet casing at the steps of a front door.

Spicer heard noises and movement coming from inside the house, and forced entry to look for potential shooting victims. Inside, police found two women and a man unharmed, and escorted them outside.

In the basement, officers found Klimov hiding in a crawlspace. Spicer went to one side of the crawl space, while the three other officers gathered on the other end of it.

The officers yelled for Klimov to show his hands and come out of the crawl space. He was holding a rock in his hand.

After several minutes, an officer — whom police did not name — drew his Taser and pointed it at Klimov, who tried to grab it. The Taser was deployed, police said, but it was not clear whether it struck Klimov.

Sgt. Eric Gripp, spokesperson for the Police Department, said investigators believe the officer deployed the Taser.

At one point, Gripp said, the officers saw that Klimov was armed with a gun. He said he did not know how officers came to see the gun, and he did not say whether the gun was ever pointed at police.

Three of the officers — Spicer, Ditro, and Tyler Cespedes — then fired their guns at Klimov. Two officers fired at least once, while the third fired multiple times, Gripp said.

Klimov was struck twice in the chest. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

As police fired their guns, the fourth officer stumbled to the ground and shouted that he was shot in the right hand. Police believe the officer was injured by a bullet fired by one of his colleagues as they shot into the crawlspace.

Investigators do not believe that Klimov fired his gun inside the home or at police.

According to an obituary online, Klimov’s family was expected to hold a funeral for him on Tuesday in Princeton. He is survived by an 18-year-old son, who is a student at Penn State University majoring in physics, according to a family GoFundMe.

His family could not immediately be reached Tuesday.

» READ MORE: Officer shot in Kensington standoff, suspect shot and killed by police

The officer who was shot in the hand, a 27-year-old who has been with the department for one year, was hospitalized in stable condition and later released.

The three officers who fired their guns have been placed on administrative duty amid an investigation, officials said. Spicer has been with the department for 28 years, Cespedes for 3 years, and Ditro has been on the force for 10 months, police said.