Philly police officer shot and suspect killed after ‘scuffle’ erupts in corner store
The shooting happened around 8:45 p.m. inside a store at the corner of North Mascher and West Cambria Streets. Police were searching for a man who they said picked up the suspect's gun and fled.
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A police officer was shot Friday night in the Fairhill section of North Philadelphia and the suspected shooter was killed by the officer’s partner during a confrontation inside a neighborhood store, police said.
The shooting happened around 8:45 p.m. inside the store at the intersection of North Mascher and West Cambria Streets.
“Shots fired! Shots fired!” an officer told police dispatchers, then reported that an officer was down.
The injured police officer, who was not identified, was transported to Temple University Hospital, where he was reported in stable condition with two gunshots to the right thigh, Police Commissioner Kevin J. Bethel said at a news briefing around 11 p.m. outside the hospital.
The suspected shooter also was transported to Temple and was pronounced dead, Bethel said.
Police were searching for another man who they said picked up the suspect’s dropped gun at the store and fled the scene.
Bethel said the two 24th District officers were investigating a man possibly armed with a gun and a “scuffle” erupted inside the store.
When the man shot one of the officers, Bethel said, the officer’s partner then fired at the gunman. Both officers have been on the force for about six years, the commissioner said.
“Thank God the officer is going to survive this terrible incident,” Mayor Cherelle L. Parker said outside the hospital, addressing the media for the first time after the shooting of a city police officer since she took office earlier this month.
Parker said it was important that the city shows the police that “we have their backs.”
“I’ve said it over and over again, that the sense of lawlessness must stop in the city of Philadelphia,” Parker said.
Said a visibly angry Bethel: ”I’ve been here too many times. It is unacceptable.”
Roosevelt Poplar, the new president of Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 5, said he was thankful that “we’re not planning a funeral” for the officer.
No further details about the incident were released.