An man was shot and killed last night in Philadelphia’s Germantown neighborhood and police want to know if the shooting was in self defense.

Witnesses say the man was trying to break into apartments on the 4600 block of Fernhill Road around 9 p.m. when one of the apartment tenants shot him. The man died a short time later.

Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Scott Small said that there were children inside the apartments when the shooting happened.

Small said the man who died was armed. At least 14 shots were fired and it’s unclear if the dead man also fired.

“We realize that the shooting not only took place in very close quarters but the shooting happened at very close range,” Small said.

The shooter remained on the scene as police arrived and turned over his handgun.

Homicide detectives were interviewing the 25-year-old man and no charges were filed as of Thursday morning.