Philadelphia police officers shot in Wynnefield, suspect dies
Three philadelphia police officers were shot late Saturday night during an encounter near 54th and Arlington streets in Wynnefield, and the suspect died after gunfire was exchanged. Police responded at 10:33 p.m. to a report of a shooting, found a car that had been shot up, and then met a man who kept engaging them.
Philadelphia Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel said officers told the man to stand down before they tried to arrest him. Bethel said the man drew a weapon, four officers returned fire, and the suspect was shot. The injured officers were in stable condition early Sunday morning, with one shot in the face, one in the hip and one in the leg.
Kevin Bethel on the encounter
Bethel said the officers were caught by surprise when the man was armed. “Today, we won. Today, I have three officers, because of their training, because of their understanding of the situation they were in - totally caught by surprise that the man was armed - were able to return fire, protect themselves, and they will survive.”
Mayor Cherelle Parker also spoke at the early Sunday morning news conference. “These are husbands, fathers, sons, brothers who came to work today and almost didn’t make it home,” she said, adding, “I ask you to do the most important thing that we as a city can do right now to support these officers and city can do right now to support these officers and their families.”
Wynnefield shooting scene
No civilians or bystanders were injured, and police identified the dead suspect only as a 57-year-old man as of early Sunday morning. Police are still investigating both the original shooting and the police-involved shooting, leaving the sequence of events around the first report at 10:33 p.m. as the central question for investigators.
The officers’ stable condition gives city leaders breathing room, but the investigation now has to sort out two linked scenes: the car that had been shot up and the exchange of gunfire that followed when officers moved in. That review will drive the next official account of what happened on 54th and Arlington streets.
