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While a rap video was being filmed in North Philadelphia on the evening of March 22, a gunshot rang out. A crowd of about 100 people in the area panicked, and one man was later pronounced dead. While some initially believed that he had been shot, it was determined that the man died after being run over by a car.
The man is said to have stumbled or tripped in front of a moving vehicle that ran him over. Emergency responders rushed him to a nearby medical center for evaluation and treatment. There, for the first time, doctors discovered that he had no bullet wounds whatsoever. He later died of injuries he suffered in the car accident after medical personnel were unable to save him.
The crowd was gathered at the street corner of Tabor Road and Fifth Street to watch the filming of a video which included a “rap battle” between several local rappers. Police said that the motorist who ran over the accident victim did stay at the scene of the accident and cooperated with the investigation. He is not facing any criminal charges for the incident at this time.
However, police said that charges could potentially be filed against the person who fired the gun, causing the crowd to panic. If prosecutors could show that the firing of the gun directly caused the fatal car accident, the shooter could be charged with involuntary manslaughter, which results when a person’s unlawful actions directly result in the death of another.
A civil lawsuit for wrongful death is also possible against the person who fired the gun, and the burden of proof is less strict in a civil case. Three people who were found in possession of firearms at the scene were taken into police custody. Police are still investigating surveillance tapes to determine the identity of the shooter.
Source: Philadelphia Inquirer, “Man who fell during rap-video filming died from car accident, not from being shot,” March 24, 2012