Gunfight At Movie Theater Injures Drexel Undergrad
Omkar Baxi
Issue date: 1/15/10 Section: News
Jared Hurwich, a sophomore civil engineer at Drexel University, was injured in the crossfire that ensued after an attempted robbery at the Bridge movie theater at 40th and Walnut Streets, according to a Drexel University statement and Hurwich's friends Joe Mathew and Kritika Katiyar.
The Philadelphia Daily News reported that a robber entered the movie theater at about 7 p.m., Jan. 15 and announced the intention of a robbery. A gunfight broke out after an off-duty cop responded to the robber in the theater's lobby, according to the Daily News.
The officer and Hurwich, a bystander in the incident, were both injured in the altercation and were transported to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. The Washington Post reports that both are in a stable condition, while the Drexel statement lists the student in a "guarded condition".
Mathew and Katiyar, sophomore biomedical engineers and Hurwich's freshman floor-mates, viewed the news reports on television and identified the student as Hurwich.
"We were supposed to go to Penn to hang out with friends but heard that someone was shot [at the Bridge]. It was such a shock to find out that it was someone we knew," Sneha Guntaka, sophomore biomedical engineer said.
"It really reinforces the fact that something like this can happen anywhere," Mathew said.
"And to anyone," Katiyar added.
All three students expressed their concern about the perceived safety around the university campuses and commented that they will be exercising more caution in the future. Guntaka and Mathew said they were unlikely to watch movies at the Bridge in the near future.
Drexel University Police and Philadelphia Police were not available for comments, but the Washington Post reported at 11:14 p.m. that police are still searching for the robber.
The Philadelphia Daily News reported that a robber entered the movie theater at about 7 p.m., Jan. 15 and announced the intention of a robbery. A gunfight broke out after an off-duty cop responded to the robber in the theater's lobby, according to the Daily News.
The officer and Hurwich, a bystander in the incident, were both injured in the altercation and were transported to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. The Washington Post reports that both are in a stable condition, while the Drexel statement lists the student in a "guarded condition".
Mathew and Katiyar, sophomore biomedical engineers and Hurwich's freshman floor-mates, viewed the news reports on television and identified the student as Hurwich.
"We were supposed to go to Penn to hang out with friends but heard that someone was shot [at the Bridge]. It was such a shock to find out that it was someone we knew," Sneha Guntaka, sophomore biomedical engineer said.
"It really reinforces the fact that something like this can happen anywhere," Mathew said.
"And to anyone," Katiyar added.
All three students expressed their concern about the perceived safety around the university campuses and commented that they will be exercising more caution in the future. Guntaka and Mathew said they were unlikely to watch movies at the Bridge in the near future.
Drexel University Police and Philadelphia Police were not available for comments, but the Washington Post reported at 11:14 p.m. that police are still searching for the robber.
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