A 12-year-old boy is dead after an encounter with police.

The incident occurred on Tuesday around 7 p.m. in Philadelphia.

Authorities say a group of four officers in an unmarked car where conducting an investigation into social media posts about a stolen gun when they spotted Thomas Siderio, Jr armed and standing with another teen in the street.

The officers then turned on their emergency lights and that’s when they reportedly heard gunfire. A “projectile” was also thrown in their direction and hit the squad car which caused the back window to shatter.

One of the officers then got out of the vehicle and fired on the children as they ran away. Siderio Jr. was struck in the back and in the chest.

He was taken to an area hospital where he died of his injuries.

One officer who was hit by flying glass was also hospitalized but is said to be in stable condition.

“Last night, a young child with a gun in their hands purposely fired a weapon at our officers and by miracle, none of the officers suffered life-threatening injuries,” Philadelphia police commissioner Danielle Outlaw said in a Wednesday statement. “However, the life of a young man was cut tragically short, and we should all be questioning how we as a society have failed him and so many other young people like him.”

Authorities are still investigating the incident and reported that they are not completely sure that the child who was shot, was the one who opened fire.

In a new conference deputy commissioner Benjamin Naish defended the officer’s decision to open fire saying that just because the child was running, it “doesn’t mean that he wasn’t continuing to be a threat to the officers.”