Three Philadelphia police officers are expected to be okay after being shot in the Wynnefield section of the city.
The shooting happened at N 54th and Arlington streets around 10:30 p.m. Saturday night.
Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel said the officers were responding to a shooting incident where a car “had been shot up” when an individual began “engaging them multiple times.”
Bethel said the officers told the individual to stand down multiple times, but he refused.
When officers went to arrest the individual around 10:45 p.m., the suspect took out a gun, which resulted in an “exchange of gunfire,” Bethel said.
Bethel said four officers discharged their weapons. One of the officers who fired his gun has been on the force for one year, but was not injured.
The three other officers, one of whom is a sergeant, were injured and taken to Penn Presbyterian Hospital. Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker said Saturday night that one officer was shot in the face, another was shot in the hip, and one was shot in the leg. All are in stable condition, Parker said.
“These officers are husbands and fathers, sons and brothers, and they almost didn’t make it home tonight,” Parker said in a social media post. “Our Officers put their lives on the line every day. They go to work, and they don’t know if they’ll even come home when their shift is over. I want everyone to keep them in prayer tonight, and remember their Sacrifice for our City.”
Bethel said the officers met with Parker Saturday and were “in great spirits.”
The 57-year-old man who was shot was taken to the hospital and pronounced dead at 11:08 p.m.
Police are reviewing surveillance footage from the block where the shooting happened, and expect to release more details about what led up to the shooting and the man who was killed this week.
This is a developing story and will be updated as more information is made available.
