Philly police officer shot during traffic stop is released to applause after a monthlong hospital stay

A Philadelphia police officer who was shot during a traffic stop last month was discharged from the hospital Tuesday afternoon.

Giovanni Maysonet, 32, a five-year veteran of the department, was released from Penn Presbyterian Medical Center to applause from a crowd of dozens of his fellow officers.

Maysonet was shot Feb. 8 on the 200 block of North 60th Street, once in the chest area of his bulletproof vest and once in his abdomen area. The shot to his abdomen went through his back and required surgery to repair.

A few hours after Maysonet was shot and his partner, Officer Mychal Couch, drove him to the hospital, police arrested Eric Haynes, 45, of Darby, and charged him with attempted murder, assault of a law enforcement officer, and related crimes.

Haynes is scheduled for a preliminary hearing next month.

On a blustery Tuesday afternoon, Philadelphia police officers lined up outside the hospital awaiting their colleague’s release. Maysonet came out of the hospital in a wheelchair, wearing a gray sweatsuit, a red Phillies hat, and matching Air Jordans. As he was rolled out, the officers saluted him.

He got into a maroon Jeep SUV with a Phillies license plate and was driven slowly down the driveway of the hospital, waving to his friends through the front passenger-side window.

Maysonet was shot last month in an incident that authorities say erupted within seconds after he and his partner stopped a silver Lexus on 60th Street.

Three people were in the Lexus when the officers approached the car, police said. Maysonet walked up to the passenger-side door while Couch approached the driver’s side.

Haynes, who was a passenger in the car, got out and got into a scuffle with Maysonet, who grabbed him by the midsection before Haynes shot at the officer at least twice, police said. Haynes fired the gun while it was still in the pocket of his sweatshirt, they said.

Maysonet fell backward against the rear of the Lexus, then to the ground.

Couch fired seven shots in return but did not hit Haynes or the two other people in the car — the driver, Ernest Reed, and a woman passenger, authorities said.

Authorities said Reed, 42, would be charged with crimes including obstruction of justice and tampering with evidence for driving the car from the scene after the shooting.

Staff photographer Jose F. Moreno contributed to this article.