A veteran police officer assigned to the 15th district has been placed on restricted duty while authorities investigate why he shot his 19-year-old son inside their Holme Circle home on Sept. 5.
The altercation occurred at about 6:30 p.m. on a Monday when a verbal argument between Officer Dorian Young and his son became physical. Police did not specify the cause of the argument or who was the physical aggressor. During the quarrel, Young fired a .40-caliber semiautomatic pistol twice, wounding his son in the abdomen and back. Police did not specify if the wounds were caused by one bullet or two.
Paramedics took the son to Aria-Jefferson Health’s Torresdale campus in critical but stable condition. His name has not been released publicly.
The gun used was Young’s personal property and was not issued to him by the police department. Police Commissioner Richard Ross told news reporters shortly after the incident that, “The officer accidentally or inadvertently discharged his weapon. We’re still trying to figure out if it was intentional or not.”
The officer’s other son and the victim’s girlfriend were in the house at the time of the shooting, Ross said. The commissioner also said that the officer had been recovering from an unrelated injury and was already restricted to desk duty.
The police department announced formally on Sept. 9 that Young had been placed on restricted duty pending the outcome of an investigation. The District Attorney’s Office is reportedly leading the probe. ••
