Two teens are in the hospital and another pair are behind bars after an armed citizen thwarted what police are describing as an attempted carjacking in Philadelphia on Tuesday evening.

Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Scott Small told reporters in a briefing Tuesday night that the incident began around 6 p.m., when a neighbor called the armed citizen and informed him that a group of four juveniles were attempting to steal the man’s car, which was parked in an alley behind his home in southwest Philadelphia.

The man went into the alleyway and confronted the teens, Small said. 

One of the teens pulled out a gun and the car’s owner responded by firing at least seven shots at the group, according to Small. All four teens ran away.

When officers responded to the scene they found two 13-year-olds suffering from gunshot wounds just one block away, Small explained. One teenager had a gunshot wound to his lower back and the other had one gunshot to his leg.

Both of the teens were taken to a nearby hospital by police where they were listed in stable condition, officials said. They are each being questioned by police.

The two other teens were found nearby, and Small says the armed citizen was able to identify them as the additional suspects who were trying to abscond with his Honda. 

Small added that the incident was caught on nearby surveillance video, and while he didn’t identify the armed citizen (who was the victim of a crime, after all), he did inform reporters that the man has a valid carry license and described him as being “cooperative” with police. 

While homicides plummeted in Philadelphia last year, carjackings and vehicle thefts are still more common than they were just a few years ago, and all too often its juveniles who are caught behind the wheel of a vehicle stolen at gunpoint. In one incident last October, police ended up chasing a car with three teens inside, one of whom was armed with a handgun. 

It all began in the 2800 block of Disston Street in the Mayfair section, where investigators say three teenagers, at least one of whom was armed with a gun, stole a man’s car after taking his wallet, cell phone, and keys.

“Two of the offenders jumped into the complainant’s vehicle. The third offender, the one who had the firearm, hid underneath the neighbor’s vehicle. He is still at large,” said Capt. Jason Smith of the Philadelphia Police Department.

Authorities were quickly able to locate and track the stolen Nissan Maxima before trying to pull the vehicle over.

The driver did not stop though, and a police helicopter was deployed to keep track of that car as it traveled all the way to the city’s Fern Rock section.

That’s where police converged and arrested the 14- and 15-year-old suspects.

Jay Speight, who lives nearby, says he witnessed those arrests taking place.

“The first thing I was thinking is, ‘I don’t want them to get shot.’ So, I’m like, ‘Please, I hope they put their hands up,'” said Speight.

At the time of that incident, Philly police touted what they called a “dramatic reduction” in the number of carjackings in the city; 487 separate incidents between January and October, 2024 compared to 787 carjackings in 2023 and 1,094 in 2022. Despite that progress, we’re still talking about more than one carjacking per day in the city, often committed by individuals already connected to the criminal justice system. 

Police haven’t said if any of the teens arrested on Tuesday night have previous charges or were on probation, but in the October carjacking one suspect was wearing an ankle monitor and two of the three had previously been arrested.

While these teen suspects may feel like they don’t have much to worry about when it comes to the juvenile justice system, they’re still putting their lives at risk every time they decide to steal someone’s ride at gunpoint. Philadelphia has a significant number of armed citizens, and as we saw on Tuesday night, they’re willing to defend their lives if necessary.