PHILADELPHIA — A man accidentally shot at a New Year's Eve house party by a policeman responding to celebratory gunfire outdoors has died.

The death marks the second year in a row that police have killed an unarmed bystander while responding to celebratory gunfire on New Year's Eve.

Abel Isaac, 33, who died Monday, was inside a home in the city's Germantown section when an officer opened fire outside at a man who had been shooting into the air, Deputy Commissioner Richard Ross said Tuesday.

The patrolman said he opened fire when the gunman pointed his gun at him, Ross said. The officer fired 11 times, with bullets striking the suspect outside and three people inside the home, including Isaac, the only one critically wounded.

"It's just a tragedy. There's no other way around it," Ross said. "By all accounts he was an innocent victim."

The officer felt threatened by the alleged gunman, Dontate Mitchell, 21, police said. But his partner, perhaps because of his vantage point, cannot corroborate that Mitchell aimed a gun at police, Ross said.

No gun was found, although slugs were found nearby that do not match the officers' weapons.

The patrolman who fired was placed on administrative duty pending an investigation.

Isaac, a married hospital worker, was shot in the face.