Philadelphia woman shoot and kills masked intruder. But when the mask is removed, she realizes she knows the man

A woman who shot and killed a man who broke into her Philadelphia home was shocked to find that she recognized the individual after she removed the mask. Police are investigating the incident, which occurred in the early hours of the morning in the Frankford Neighborhood.

Officers were called to the scene of the shooting around 5 a.m. on September 30, according to Action News. Officials said that the woman, who was home alone, shot and killed a masked man who had allegedly broken into her apartment. Police arrived to find an unresponsive 29-year-old man who had been shot in the head. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police believe that the man climbed into the second-floor window of the woman’s home through a back door in the apartment complex in the 4600 block of Castor Avenue and that he smashed the glass to gain entry.

A neighbor in the same apartment block claimed that the fire escape provided access to the apartment, according to NBC Philadelphia. “They got in through the door in the back, the fire escape door, that’s the only way to get in,” he said.

The woman claimed that she had heard a window being smashed in the apartment and found the masked man inside her home before allegedly shooting him. “It appears this individual broke the window, and was able to reach in and open the door, and then entered this woman’s apartment, and that’s when the shot, or shots, were fired,” Chief Inspector Scott Small said. The shots reportedly struck the suspect in the head.

The woman recognized the alleged intruder

Officials said that the home invasion did not appear to be a random attack due to the woman’s claims that she realized she knew the suspect.

When investigators removed the mask from the suspect, the woman told officers that she recognized the man and that she had been in a prior relationship with him. Chief Small later said that the nature of the woman and man’s relationship was unclear, but a police source told Action News that the man was her ex-boyfriend.

It’s unclear what the man’s intentions were in breaking into the woman’s apartment, but Small said that he did not appear to have any weapons on him.

Locals in the Frankford neighborhood said the incident was “alarming,” especially because it happened next to a school, but they expressed relief that the woman was not hurt.

According to officials, the woman is cooperating with police and has since handed in her semi-automatic handgun to officers. The investigation into the incident is also ongoing, with the shooter being questioned by authorities and surveillance footage from near the scene being reviewed.