Security guard shoots armed man outside federal courthouse in Philadelphia

A security guard shot an armed man outside the federal courthouse building in Philadelphia Tuesday morning, officials said. The man was wearing a vest with wires.

The incident unfolded along the west side of the James A. Byrne U.S. Courthouse around 9:30 a.m., after a security officer approached a minivan parked in an area reserved for law enforcement and court personnel. He was immediately met by a man with at least “two edged weapons,” Robert Clark, with the U.S. Marshals office in Eastern Pennsylvania, told reporters.

He did not specify the exact type of weapons the suspect had.

“The court security officer gave multiple verbal commands to the suspect to drop his weapons,” Clark said, adding that the man repeatedly ignored the orders and continued moving toward the guard. “That court security officer feared for his life and discharged his weapon multiple times.”

The suspect, identified only as a man in his 40s, was struck “twice in the abdomen, twice in the arm & twice in the back,” law enforcement sources told Fox 29. He was then rushed to the hospital in critical condition, where is currently undergoing emergency surgery.

Clark said the exact exchange between the armed man and security guard in the moments leading up to the gunfire is unclear. Neither the officer nor the suspect has been interviewed.

Sources told Fox 29 the suspect threatened to blow up the federal building. A bomb squad later cleared the vest as not containing explosives. No other explosives have been recovered from the scene, according to the news station.

Drivers and pedestrians have been told to avoid the area, which is near several federal buildings — including the detention center, the building that houses the FBI’s Philadelphia field office as well as the courthouse.

An investigation into the matter is ongoing.