Two men were injured in Philadelphia - one critically after being chased and fired upon by police - following the random discharge of weapons that has become an unwelcome part of New Year's celebrations.

A North Philadelphia man was in critical but stable condition at Temple University Hospital Saturday after a highway patrol officer shot him in the leg, said Lt. Ray Evers, a police spokesman.

According to the police account of the incident, a neighbor dialed 911 at 11:39 p.m. Friday to report a group of males shooting into the air at the corner of West Diamond and North Marston streets.

Two highway patrol officers arrived, and three of the males fled, Evers said, one of them apparently slowed by something he was concealing in his sweatpants.

The man, identified by police as Jermaine Theo Williford, 25, disregarded commands to show his hands, Evers said, and the officers reported seeing him raise a shotgun. One of the officers then shot Williford in the leg, Evers said.

Once they reached him, they found he was carrying both a 12-gauge shotgun and a revolver, Evers said. Williford was charged on assault, reckless endangerment and weapons counts.

A short time later in Germantown, at 12:15 a.m. Saturday, a 25-year-old was watching fireworks from his balcony in the 300 block of West Queen Lane when he heard gunshots, police said.

The man said an object struck the metal grating on the balcony, and he was hit in the elbow. He was treated for a "superficial wound" at Albert Einstein Medical Center, police spokeswoman Officer Christine O'Brien said.

Police were uncertain whether the injury was a direct result of a bullet or was caused by a metal fragment from the balcony, O'Brien said.

In a third incident, police arrested a man on weapons charges in North Philadelphia, and his dog was shot after attacking the officers called to take him away, Evers said.

Two officers saw the man shooting a gun into the air at the corner of North Fifth and West Willard streets at 12:14 a.m. Saturday, according to police, and they chased him into a building in the 3200 block of North Fifth. They arrested him and found a 9mm handgun under the couch cushions, Evers said.

A pit bull became aggressive when officers were taking the man away, Evers said, and the dog was shot once. He could not say whether the dog was killed.

A Chester man was shot and killed in his home Thursday night and firefighters responding to a gas leak nearby were the first on scene, Chester police said.

Byron Bryant, 40, of 7th Street near McIlvain, was shot about 8 p.m. and was pronounced dead shortly thereafter, Detective James Nolan said. Police have not found his killer.

Bryant was the 24th homicide victim of 2010 for Chester and the 35th for Delaware County, a deadly tally that rose by one more to 36 before the year was out when a man was killed in a hit-and-run accident in Upper Darby later on Thursday night (see next story). In 2009, there were 23 homicides in Delaware County.

2 CYCLIST KILLED IN HIT-RUN CRASH

A 62-year-old bicyclist was killed in Upper Darby Thursday by a hit-and-run driver who was high on booze and prescription pills, police said.

Randall Bratu, of Lansdowne, was riding his bicycle home from Philadelphia about 10:30 p.m., when Paul Jones, 53, of Haverford, allegedly hit Bratu with his Ford pickup truck on Baltimore Avenue near Church Lane and sent him flying 30 yards, Upper Darby Police Superintendent Michael Chitwood said. Jones fled and then in Lansdowne hit a minivan head-on that was occupied by two women and a child, police said.

The women and child suffered only minor injuries, and described Jones, his vehicle and a partial license-plate number to police, Chitwood said. Jones was pulled over shortly afterward in Havertown by a cop who noticed the heavy damage to the front end of his truck, police said.

Jones was found to be intoxicated and in possession of a vial of Oxycodone that was prescribed to a family member, according to police. He was charged with vehicular homicide while driving under the influence of intoxicants, aggravated assault and related charges. He remains in prison in lieu of $500,000 bail.

3 ROBBERY TRY IS YEAR'S FIRST HOMICIDE IN CITY

Philadelphia marked its first homicide for 2011 just a little more than six hours after the year started when a 24-year-old man was shot and killed during an apparent robbery attempt in Feltonville Saturday, police said.

Rawl Mitchell, of Longshore Avenue near Summerdale, was walking home from the Felton Club with a 23-year-old female companion about 6:25 a.m. when the pair was approached by a robber on Hope Street near Loudon, said Officer Christine O'Brien, a police spokeswoman. The assailant shot Mitchell several times in his torso and shot the woman once in her left leg, according to police.

The two were taken to Aria Health's Frankford campus, where Mitchell was pronounced dead at 6:50 a.m., O'Brien said. The woman was listed in stable condition. It is unknown what, if anything, the gunman stole from the victims.

4 OFF-DUTY COP FIRES WEAPON TO BREAK UP FIGHT

An off-duty city cop is not believed to have struck anyone when he fired his weapon early Saturday after his girlfriend and mother were involved in an altercation with a group of men in North Philadelphia, police said.

The off-duty officer, whose identity was not released, was picking up his girlfriend and mother from a New Year's Eve party at 24th Street and Ridge Avenue about 1:15 a.m. when he noticed the women in a confrontation with a group of men outside, one of whom punched the officer's girlfriend, said Lt. Ray Evers, police spokesman.

The officer got out of his car and identified himself as a cop but the men, unfazed, began to reach in to their waistbands, causing the officer to fear for his safety, Evers said. The cop then fired two shots, at which time the men fled on foot, according to police. There were no injuries reported and the officer, who used an off-duty weapon, reported the incident himself, Evers said.

5 HIT-RUN VICTIM ATTACKS COPS

A pedestrian who was struck by an allegedly drunken driver on New Year's Day in South Jersey attacked the cops who tried to help him, police said.

Joshua Spaulding, of Galloway Township, N.J., was walking along Galloway Road near Old Port Road about 1 a.m. when he was struck by a car allegedly driven by Christopher Hopkins, also of the township, police said. When two officers arrived on scene to help Spaulding, he refused their aid and instead become violent, causing minor injuries to both cops, police said.

Spaulding was charged with aggravated assault. Hopkins, the driver who allegedly hit Spaulding, was charged with driving under the influence of intoxicants, according to police.

6 MOM OF STARVED BABY IS CHARGED

The mother of a 2-month-old child who died of starvation and dehydration at a West Philadelphia shelter was charged Friday with murder and endangering the welfare of a child, police said.

Tanya Williams, 32, was staying at the Traveler's Aid Shelter on 49th Street near Arch with the baby boy, Quasir Alexander, and her six other children, according to police. When medics responded to the shelter about 5:40 a.m. on Dec. 23, they found Quasir unresponsive and undernourished, police said. He was later pronounced dead at the Children's Hospital of Pennsylvania; an autopsy determined he died of starvation and dehydration and that his death was a homicide, according to police.

7 HE ATTACKS COPS, GETS SHOT

A South Philly man who was shot after repeatedly ramming his truck into an Upper Darby police car Thursday night has been identified by cops as James Moore, 43, of Winton Street near 3rd.

Moore allegedly became enraged when his neighbor, William Chestnut, 32, was arrested by Upper Darby detectives about 6 p.m. for protection-from-abuse-order violations, so he got into his pickup truck with his dog and rammed into the cruiser at Broad Street and Oregon Avenue, Upper Darby Police Superintendent Michael Chitwood said.

The detectives got out of the vehicle and shot at Moore, police said. He was hit once in the hand and his dog was killed, Chitwood said. As a result of the incident, Moore was charged with aggravated assault, simple assault, recklessly endangering another person and related charges. Philadelphia police are investigating the shooting, Chitwood said.

8 FATAL HIT-RUN DRIVER MAKES BAIL

The driver in a fatal hit-and-run in Winslow Township, N.J., on New Year's Day has turned himself in, authorities from the Camden County Prosecutor's Office and Winslow Township police announced yesterday.

Sam Miles, 42, of Williamstown, N.J., surrendered hours after striking and killing Stacy Casalnova, 23, also of Williamstown, and critically injuring Sean Scolla, 29, from Sicklerville, N.J.

It was about 3:40 a.m., when Casalnova and Scolla were struck while returning from a New Year's Eve celebration. Casalnova died a short time later from her injuries. Scolla remains in critical but stable condition at Cooper University Hospital.

Miles faces charges of leaving the scene of a motor-vehicle accident. He posted $50,000 bail.

Authorities continue to investigate the incident and are asking anyone who may have witnessed the events leading up to the collision on Redfox Drive to contact Investigator Antonio Pagan, of the Camden County Prosecutor's Office, at 856-225-8400 or Detective Tristan Shorter, of the Winslow Township Police Department, at 609-561-3300.

- Staff and Wire Reports