Nicholas Glenn, 25, is being described by reporters as a police-hating gunman. On Friday, Sept. 16, 2016, acting alone, Glenn went on a shooting spree in West Philadelphia. He shot two officers, University of Pennsylvania police officer Ed Miller, who was shot in the hip and leg area; and a 19-year veteran of the Philadelphia Police Department, Sgt. Sylvia Young. She was wearing a bulletproof vest and was struck eight times in the left shoulder, arm and torso. Glenn fired 18 rounds at close range with a 9mm Ruger and fired into her service weapon twice, disabling it. Miller served 33 years on the Philadelphia police department, retiring as a sergeant, before joining the Penn PD. Both officers are in stable condition.
Philadelphia Police Commissioner Richard Ross says, “Other than the rantings he had in that letter, we don’t know what he was motivated by. Unfortunately, we may never know.” Glenn was shot and killed by police.
Glenn, who had a checkered past with the law had a note, or “letter,” on him that led investigators to believe he is angry with his probation officer and police. The note was titled: “Doomed People.” He had 16 prior arrests, including drug-possession convictions in Philadelphia and a charge in connection with a gang rape case in November 2009, court records show. The rape case was withdrawn by prosecutors in December 2011.
The 42-year-old manager and 41-year-old bartender at Maximum Level Lounge were attending to a wheelchair-bound patron and standing in the open doorway when Glenn fired about five rounds into the doorway, striking the manager in both legs and the woman in the right ankle.
He shot a 36-year-old man and his 25-year-old girlfriend who were riding in a 2011 Nissan Altima, striking the man in his arm and chest and the woman several times in her chest.
The victims were taken to Penn-Presbyterian Hospital. The 25-year-old died and her boyfriend is in critical condition.
Glenn’s attorney, Anthony Petrone, also told NBC10 that he spent much of his prison time in solitary due to fighting. “I did notice with him a serious change in his attitude and overall demeanor during the period of time that he was incarcerated up in the county prison,” Petrone said. “I remember visiting him frequently and he had to be pulled out of solitary and I remember he was having a very difficult time in dealing with the solitary confinement.”
