West Philly deli owner is shot with AK-47 assault rifle

A 50-year-old delicatessen owner was shot with an AK-47 assault rifle during an apparent robbery attempt as he washed his car Saturday afternoon in West Philadelphia, police said.

The victim, whose name was withheld, was in critical condition at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center after the bullet entered his lower stomach and exited his back in the 1:30 p.m. attack at 54th and Spruce Streets, Lt. John Walker said.

The man was washing his car outside his shop — which sells beer and deli items — and sprayed his attacker's face with the water hose before he was shot, police said. Surveillance video shows the attacker trying to push the man into his shop, apparently to rob it, before he fled on foot heading south at 54th and Delancey Street, police said.

The suspect was described as a black man in his 30s who wore a black hoodie. Tipsters should call 215-686-8477.