3 Philadelphia police officers shot late Saturday in Wynnefield by retired city firefighter, sources say
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Three Philadelphia police officers were wounded in a shooting late Saturday after a verbal altercation with a retired city firefighter escalated, and the man opened fire on them in the street, law enforcement sources and city officials said.
The gunman was killed by officers in response, officials said.
Police responded to reports of gunfire at a car near North 54th and Arlington Streets in the Wynnefield section of West Philadelphia around 10:30 p.m., Commissioner Kevin Bethel said at a news conference early Sunday.
A 57-year-old man — identified by multiple law enforcement sources as Eric Franks — then confronted four officers on the block and began arguing with them, according to video of the encounter obtained by The Inquirer.
The video appeared to show an animated Franks yelling at officers while another man attempted to hold him back. Franks, according to the video, then pushed a sergeant.
Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel said the officers repeatedly told him to “stand down” before attempting to arrest him about 10:45 p.m.
As the officers tried to detain Franks, the video showed him break free, then pull a gun from his waistband and begin shooting at the officers in the street. The police and several civilians could be seen diving behind cars and scattering for their lives.
Four officers discharged their weapons in response, Bethel said. Three, including a sergeant, were struck by gunfire and taken to Penn Presbyterian Medical Center. One officer was shot in the face, one in the hip, and another in the leg, according to Mayor Cherelle L. Parker.
All were reportedly stable Sunday morning.
The video then showed Franks stumbling down the sidewalk before collapsing. He died at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital at 11 p.m., Bethel said.
Bethel said the gunman was not involved in the initial incident for which police were called.
“Why he elected to come into that scene and engage the officers — whether this was premeditated — we will walk through that process to see,” Bethel said. “But you don’t come to a situation like that … to engage the officer. We all can start to think of what potentially his intended purpose was.”
City payroll records show Franks retired from the Philadelphia Fire Department in September 2025 after nearly 20 years on the job.
Mike Bresnan, president of the International Association of Firefighters Local 22, declined to comment Sunday. A city spokesperson for the fire department did not immediately respond.
The officers, ages 43 and 30, have worked as Philadelphia police for two and eight years, respectively. The sergeant, whose age wasn’t given, has been with Philadelphia police for eight years, according to Bethel. They were not immediately identified.
“These men and women give their lives for this work,” Bethel said. The mayor also commended the officers’ resiliency and resolve. “We’re just grateful that tonight, they will survive their injuries.”
On Sunday, officers with the police department’s crime scene unit continued to comb the block — a street of porch-lined rowhouses and small businesses — for evidence and witnesses. Police pulled several fired shell casings, caked in mud, from a sewer drain.
Across the street, a group of people who identified themselves as Franks’ relatives gathered outside an event space called Mingle that the family owned. They declined to speak to a reporter.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
Night editor Joe Berkery contributed to this article.
