PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — An 18-year-old driver is dead after striking two state troopers when law enforcement intervened in a street racing gathering on a stretch of I-95 in Center City on Sunday, state police said. The illegal gathering and resulting deadly shooting forced law enforcement to shut down the southbound lanes of that part of the expressway for a large part of the morning.
State police say troopers were called to I-95 near exit 20, by the Philadelphia Vietnam Veterans Memorial and Penn’s Landing, shortly before 3:30 a.m., where “numerous vehicles and pedestrians” were illegally blocking the highway.
Police said they tried to contact one vehicle and its operator, but the vehicle failed to yield and two troopers were struck, sustaining what were called minor injuries. Police said a trooper shot the driver, 18-year-old Anthony Allegrini Jr. of Glen Mills, who was pronounced dead at the scene by fire department medics.
“The vehicles were reported to be racing, doing ‘burnouts’ and ‘drifting,’” with many people outside their vehicles watching, police said. Troopers had been called to help local police at several similar incidents earlier that night. Before state police arrived at the I-95 scene there had been a report of shots fired, police said.
The southbound lanes of the interstate were closed to traffic early Sunday as police investigated but reopened later in the morning. State police and the Philadelphia district attorney's office are investigating.
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“It’s unfortunate, you know. All this shooting happened because of recklessness,” said Lunis, a taxi driver who was diverted from I-95 when the police investigation closed down at least a half-mile of the expressway.
Atiya Marshall was walking to her job at Penn’s Landing, when she got the news of what happened. She says between this incident and others that have taken place in this area over the last few weeks, she’s seeing change for the worse.
“It’s crazy. It’s a lot of tragedy going on out here. That’s what I think about it,” Marshall said. “It’s just too much going on. Kids coming down here, they’re buck wilding. It’s just too much.”
The president of Fraternal Order of Police Lodge No. 5, John McNesby, told reporters that illegal street racing had occurred in Mayfair and Bustleton on Saturday night, as well as on I-95, calling it “another weekend of Philadelphia and state police officers putting themselves in danger to curb this criminal behavior.” McNesby said in one incident an officer had a brick thrown through her windshield, which left her shaken but not seriously injured.