Updated: Off-duty cop shoots robbery suspect in Borgia parking lot

Updated on March 23

Sirens illuminated campus in the wee hours of the morning on Friday, March 19, as the Borgia Hall parking lot became a crime scene.

A man who held up the 7-Eleven on City Avenue was gunned down by an off-duty highway patrol officer at approximately 3 a.m.

Witnesses say the off-duty officer was pulling into the store on the 5300 block of City Avenue as a clerk informed him that the store had just been robbed.

The officer chased the suspect, a 37-year-old man identified as Kenneth DeShields of Philadelphia, across City Avenue, eventually shooting him twice in the chest. The man was taken to the University of Pennsylvania Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Witnesses say they heard five or six shots fired at the time of the shooting.

DeShields was on leave from a 10-month tour of duty in Iraq, according to a report made by NBC Philadelphia earlier this week. According to that report, DeShields was supposed to return to duty on Monday, March 15, but failed to; he had also seen a psychiatrist during his time on leave.

On the evening of the incident, DeShields left his parents’ home in Overbrook at approximately 12:30 a.m. and didn’t return, according to the NBC report. Three hours later, DeShields tried to rob the 7-Eleven.

According to an unofficial report, the off-duty highway patrol officer was not injured during the incident. Calls to the Lower Merion Police Department were not returned.

No St. Joe’s students were involved in the incident, though several residents of Rashford Hall witnessed the aftermath of the shooting. Some cars in the Borgia parking lot were reported to have had bullet holes in them following the preliminary investigation on Friday morning.

Lower Merion and Philadelphia Police are investigating. Following standard procedure, the veteran officer is on administrative leave until the internal investigation concludes.