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Cambodian gang threatens to kill Phila. officer

Gang members said they were going to kill a police officer in retaliation for a fatal officer-involved shooting earlier this week

By Morgan Zalot
The Philadelphia Daily News

PHILADELPHIA — Cops in Olney and Logan were on high alert Thursday night after police say “credible threats” were made by gang thugs who said they were going to kill a police officer in retaliation for a fatal police-involved shooting earlier this week.

The message went out on police radio at 5 p.m. warning police to use extreme caution when responding to 2nd Street and Nedro Avenue — the scene of Sunday’s shooting — and to Rockland between Broad and 13th.

The shooting occurred after cops stumbled upon a gunbattle at 2nd and Nedro about 1 a.m. Sunday. Officers saw a man on foot exchanging gunfire with the driver of an SUV. Police said the man refused to drop his weapon and pointed it at a cop, prompting the officer to shoot him in the head.

The man, later identified as Vanna “Tiny” Sok, 25, later died at Albert Einstein Medical Center. Police said the other suspected shooter in that gunbattle — which police believed stemmed from another shooting in January — was arrested later Sunday.

Police spokesman Lt. Raymond Evers said the threats were just rumors, but supervisors said they were taking them seriously.

Sources said the threats started Wednesday, and investigators on Thursday interviewed a neighborhood source familiar with the situation.

“Actually interviewing somebody is different than someone on the street just saying, ‘I’m gonna kill a cop,’” one police supervisor told the Daily News.

Sources said investigators were exploring the possibility that Sunday’s gunbattle was retaliation for the Jan. 31 murder of Sophos Siv, 40, who was tied up, severely beaten and fatally shot inside his home on Ruscomb Street near 2nd. Sources said police believe the violence is a result of a clash between gangs in the neighborhood.

In the 35th District, which encompasses both locations, sources said some police cruisers were stocked with shotguns and automatic rifles. When police were called to either location, they were required to respond with two units and a supervisor — five officers total.

Police supervisors decided against flooding the blocks in question with cops.

“We’re trying not to incite a confrontation,” a supervisor said. “But we’re also not gonna turn around and run away.”

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