Police Release Details of Early Morning Shooting in Norristown

Norristown Police Chief Russell Bono released details of the investigation so far into the early morning shoot out that rocked the neighborhood on the 300 block of East Moore Street Tuesday morning.

According to Chief Bono, an officer leaving the station shortly before 5 a.m. this morning heard shots in the vicinity of East Moore and Arch streets and ran to investigate.

On the scene, officers discovered the body of a black male lying in the street with a gunshot would to the torso. Two additional injured men were discovered in a nearby home that was riddled with bullet holes from the shoot out. The three men were flown to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania where their conditions are still unknown. At least one of the victims is undergoing surgery according to Chief Bono.

During their investigation of the scene, officers found a car that had also been riddled with bullet holes and while searching the car, heard a noise coming from the trunk. In the trunk they found an unidentified black woman in her twenties. The woman, who is now believed to be the girlfriend of one of the men involved in the incident, had clearly been assaulted and her hands were tied behind her back. The victim told police she had been "pistol whipped" by a still unidentified suspect.

Police also reportedly recovered a TEC-9 semi-automatic weapon from the scene of the incident.

"I can confirm there was Tech 9 submachine gun found in the trunk of the car," said Chief Bono. It is unclear if the weapon was used in the shoot out, but Chief Bono confirmed it was reported stolen out of Philadelphia.

A neighbor described the scene that morning to The Times Herald:

"Nine to 11 gunshots woke me up,” the man told the Herald. "A bullet came through our house. Through the front (first-floor) window."

The man also told the Herald that he had seen "a lot of traffic, people coming in and out of the house, over the last year."

At least one man is reported to be in custody, but police are unable to determine who the suspects and victims are until they can question the three men being treated at HUP. The female victim was treated at a local hospital and released.

"We have been trying to crack down on violence," said Chief Bono. "The Norristown community is actually rallying tonight for against violence. It's ironic that this happened today, but we're asking the community – they've stepped it up and they have been helping us and we're asking them to continue to do that."

See Chief Bono's remarks to the press in the video above.

Anyone with information about this crime could call the Norristown Police Department at 610-270-0977.

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