Three police officers were injured and a man was killed during an exchange of gunfire Saturday night in the Wynnefield section of West Philadelphia.
All three of the officers remained hospitalized Sunday with nonlife-threatening injuries, a Philadelphia Police Department spokesperson said.
A 57-year-old man, reportedly a retired firefighter, died a short time after the incident. Law enforcement officials allege that he pulled out a gun during a confrontation with the officers and opened fire.
The encounter began at around 10:30 p.m., when police responded to a bullet-ridden car in the area of 54th and Arlington streets, investigators said.
Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel told reporters that the man approached and “engaged” four officers at the scene. There is no indication that he had anything to do with the damaged vehicle, Bethel added.
After asking him multiple times to “stand down,” the officers decided to arrest the man, according to Bethel. During an ensuing altercation, he drew a firearm and began shooting at police, Bethel said.
All four officers returned fire, investigators said. One of the officers was shot in the face, and the other two sustained gunshot wounds to the hip and leg, respectively, Mayor Cherelle Parker said at a briefing.
“It is only by the grace of God that three of our Philadelphia police officers who were shot in the line of duty tonight are in stable condition,” the mayor remarked. “These are husbands, fathers, sons, brothers who came to work today and almost didn’t make it home.”
The PPD has not yet identified the wounded officers, one of whom is a sergeant. All are assigned to West Philadelphia’s 19th Police District.
“I am deeply saddened by the shooting that took place in our community tonight, just two blocks from my house,” City Council Majority Leader Katherine Gilmore Richardson said in a statement Sunday. “I had the opportunity to visit the hospital yesterday evening, and my thoughts and prayers are with the officers who were wounded, their families, and their fellow officers during this difficult time.”
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