A bystander police described as a Good Samaritan was critically injured outside the Hampton Inn.
PHILADELPHIA — A father was taken into custody Sunday after police said he rushed armed to an airport-area hotel and shot a bystander he wrongly believed had attacked his daughter.
The shooting happened early Sunday at the Hampton Inn on Bartram Avenue, near Philadelphia International Airport. Police said two young women were staying at the hotel when one called her father and said she was being sexually assaulted. The father arrived with a firearm and opened fire in the parking lot, according to investigators.
Police said the man hit by the gunfire was actually trying to help the woman. He was shot several times in the chest and taken to a local hospital in critical condition. At least seven shell casings were recovered outside the hotel, police said.
Authorities described the shooting as a case of mistaken identity. They said the father believed the man in the parking lot was the attacker, but investigators later determined the wounded man was a Good Samaritan who had intervened. Police did not release further details about how the bystander became involved.
No names were released Sunday morning. Police also did not release the ages of the father, his daughter, the second young woman or the wounded man. Officials had not announced charges, and it was not immediately clear whether the reported sexual assault suspect had been located.
The case left investigators handling two connected reports: the alleged assault inside or near the hotel and the shooting that followed outside. Detectives were expected to review witness accounts, physical evidence from the parking lot and any available hotel surveillance as they decide whether charges will be filed.
The wounded man remained hospitalized Sunday, and the father remained in custody while police continued the investigation.
Author note: Last updated May 31, 2026.