PHILADELPHIA (KYW/CNN) – A Philadelphia father was shot 10 times trying to protect his pregnant, recently married daughter in a shooting that may have been motivated by jealousy.
Police are searching for the groom’s ex-wife after the 23-year-old bride, five months pregnant with twins, was shot while celebrating her wedding outside her home Sunday night.
Police say the 25-year-old ex-wife had seen a social media post about the marriage and showed up at the party, confronting the new bride, along with two other men.
"She approached the new wife. There was some type of altercation or fight. As that escalated, some of the males in the crowd – at least two – pulled out handguns,” Lt. John Walker said.
As more than one dozen bullets came blasting toward his daughter, 74-year-old Frederick Waring jumped in front of her, taking the impact of 10 bullets.
The bride was shot twice, once in the hip and once in the leg.
Waring is in critical condition, but police feel the father’s act saved his daughter and the lives of her unborn twins. The woman’s gunshot wounds don’t appear to be affecting the babies’ health.
Police are searching for the husband’s ex-wife and the men who shot at the pregnant bride.
"Can’t control their emotions and anger, but they bring a weapon into the game and it changes lives. You've got a 74-year-old guy here who's fighting for his life and a daughter who's pregnant who could have clearly been killed and had two kids killed at the same time,” Walker said.
On Monday night, police located a vehicle they believe belongs to the ex-wife lodged in brush near the shooting location. It is now being tested for forensic evidence.
Walker says it’s in the 25-year-old’s best interest to come forward.
"She needs to come in and do the right thing and provide us with the information on what actually occurred here from start to finish – or not – and we will confer with the district attorney's office, and I'm sure charges will go against her,” Walker said.
The investigation into the shooting is ongoing.
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