A man was arrested after a Philadelphia police officer was shot during a routine traffic stop, police say
The officer, who was struck in the leg, is expected to make a full recovery, said Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel.
After a police officer was shot in the leg during a traffic stop in North Philadelphia on Monday night, a 26-year-old man was arrested in connection with the incident, officials said Tuesday.
Rashid Walker was charged with firearms violations after the shooting, which happened when a gun discharged during a pat down.
Around 7:40 p.m. in the 2400 block of North 17th Street, police said, officers responding to reports of gunfire stopped a red four-door Saab.
Walker and another man were asked to step out of the car, Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel said, and as an officer frisked Walker, a firearm in Walker’s jacket pocket discharged, striking the officer in the leg.
The officer, 53, whose name police did not release, was taken to Temple University Hospital and is expected to recover, he said.
“He’s doing extremely well,” Bethel said.
Speaking outside the hospital alongside Mayor Cherelle L. Parker on Monday night, Bethel said the officer was alert and in good spirits. The mayor had visited him and “had him smiling,” the commissioner said.
The officer is married with three children, Bethel added.
Walker’s gun was recovered at the scene, police said, and the shooting remains under investigation. Bethel said investigators still had “a lot of work to do” to determine what happened.
A police spokesperson on Tuesday did not respond to a request for additional information.