Police are searching for the man who shot a Pennsylvania reptile enthusiast who was trying to sell snakes in a shopping center parking lot.
Ridley Township police said a Doylestown man had arranged to sell 20 ball pythons for $12,600 to a New York City man Sunday night, the Philadelphia Daily News reported.
Police reportedly believe the buyer shot and robbed the snake seller before stealing his Toyota RAV4 and the 20 snakes.
"It ends up the guy that was supposed to buy the snakes shoots him," Ridley Police Detective Lt. Scott Willoughby told the newspaper.
Willoughby said the shooter crashed nearby, then fled on foot. Investigators recovered a pair of handguns they say he tossed as he fled.
The snakes were also recovered from the crashed car. Willoughby told the Philadelphia Daily News that police will keep the snakes until they can figure out what to do with them.
The shooting victim, whose name has not been released, was hospitalized in stable condition at Crozer-Chester Medical Center.
Police described the alleged gunman as a black man, wearing black clothes and likely in his early 20s, according to the newspaper.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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