2 Philly police officers shot during traffic stop; suspect wounded in shootout

Two Philadelphia police officers were shot early Sunday morning after an attempted traffic stop and pursuit that began in Mayfair and ended in Holmesburg.

Police said one of the officers was shot once in the left eye and twice in the left leg; the other suffered a graze wound to the face. They were treated at Jefferson Torresdale Hospital and released later Sunday. The suspect was also hit during an exchange of gunfire and was critically wounded.

Acting Police Commissioner John Stanford said one of the officers had previously been shot on the job.

“When I said they will physically recover, it still is ... very heavy ... mentally to know that you have been shot in the head, to know that you have been shot in the face ... just doing your job,” Stanford told reporters. “So they’ll be on a little bit of a road to recovery mentally.”

The officers were shot after responding to a report of a person with a gun and gunshots in the area of Cottman Avenue and Roosevelt Boulevard in the Northeast at 2:32 a.m., police said. A man wearing a tan, puffy jacket had boarded a gray pickup truck, firing a gun, police said.

When a sergeant arrived, he spotted a gray Dodge Ram pickup truck on the 7300 block of Brous Avenue with a man wearing a tan-colored jacket inside, police said. After requesting additional officers, the sergeant turned on his emergency lights and siren at St. Vincent Street and Roosevelt Boulevard, and the Dodge Ram pulled over to the right side of the road, police said.

When the police sergeant approached, the Dodge Ram took off on St. Vincent and then drove northbound in the outer lanes of Roosevelt Boulevard, police said.

Shortly after, two highway patrol officers tried to get the truck to pull over at Frankford Avenue and Welsh Road, police said. The officers, who were in their patrol car, were in front of the Dodge Ram and were rammed from behind by the truck, which caused major damage to their vehicle.

When the highway patrol officers got out of their patrol car, the truck driver, a 40-year-old man whose name was not released, opened fire, hitting one officer in the ankle and grazing his head, police said. The other officer was grazed by a bullet on the bridge of his nose.

Both officers shot back, police said. Two more highway patrol officers arrived and also fired at the gunman.

The driver was struck by gunfire and was listed in critical condition Sunday afternoon. It is unclear which of the four officers struck him.

The two injured officers were a 32-year-old who is a nine-year veteran of the department and a 31-year-old who is a six-year-veteran.

The two officers who responded later — a 34-year-old who is a 12-year veteran of the department and a 40-year-old who is an 18-year-veteran — were not injured.

None of their names were released.

All of the officers who fired their guns are on administrative duty pending officer-involved shooting and internal affairs investigations, police said.