3 police officers shot in Rhawnhurst, suspect dead, police said

Three Philadelphia police officers were shot Wednesday evening in the city’s Rhawnhurst section while responding to a report of a domestic shooting, police said.

The suspected gunman was dead after officers returned fire, police said. Another man was found shot inside a home on the 7500 block of Whitaker Avenue, from where the suspect allegedly fired at police.

Shortly before 7:10 p.m., police responded to a call from a 12-year-old saying his father had just shot his uncle, police said. A few minutes later as police arrived to investigate, an officer reported that shots were fired from the house and that he was shot, police said.

Two officers were shot in the leg and one in the hand, police said. All three were taken to Jefferson Torresdale Hospital, where they were reported to be in stable condition.

A woman and child left the house apparently uninjured, police said.

Interim Police Commissioner John Stanford said there reportedly was a dispute inside the house over a video game possibly being played too loudly, then one man shot the other.

When police arrived, the man described as the boy’s father and the alleged shooter of the uncle was standing in the doorway of the house, possibly waiting for police to arrive, Stanford said at a news briefing outside the hospital where the injured officers were being treated.

“Our officers did exchange gunfire with him,” Stanford said.

“Thank God they’re all OK,” said Mayor Jim Kenney at the news briefing.

The alleged shooter was pronounced dead at the scene on Whitaker Avenue.

The uncle was taken to Jefferson Abington Hospital, where he was listed in critical condition.

On the 7500 block of Whitaker Avenue, a young mother — she didn’t want to give her name, citing safety concerns — was washing dishes in the kitchen with her infant by her side when she heard a police car zooming down the block sometime after 7 p.m.

”Then I saw cop car, cop car, cop car,” she said. “Cops just started swarming by the house and I heard shots, so I grabbed my baby and headed upstairs.”

She said a bullet hit the side of her home, just inches from her window. Her partner had been outside hanging out with friends on the nice evening. Neither one of them was injured, though the family remained terribly shaken as several police cars closed off the street.

The woman said that the neighborhood used to be quiet but that safety has increasingly become a concern for her family. In May, a man was fatally shot in front of his wife on the 7400 block of Whitaker Avenue.

Councilmember Katherine Gilmore Richardson posted a statement on X, formerly known as Twitter.

“I am deeply saddened and very angry to learn of the shooting of three Philadelphia Police Officers in Northeast Philadelphia,” the councilmember wrote. “As we await additional details, I am thinking of them, their loved ones and colleagues and praying for their speedy recovery. Enough is enough!”

Stanford also posted a statement on social media: “This tragic incident is yet another cold reminder of the dangers our women and men face day in and day out. Proud of our brave officers, and pray for their recoveries and all affected by this senseless attack.”