Philadelphia, PA – A gunmen shoots a police officer sitting in his marked car and gets arrested during his escape.
At least 13 shots were fired at Officer Jesse Hartnett and his car late Thursday night.
Hartnett was shot three times in the arm and taken to Penn Presbyterian Hospital, listed in stable condition. Authorities say it is expected that he will face a long recovery.
At approximately 11:40 p.m., the West Philadelphia intersection of Spruce and 60th became the scene of a crazy (mentally ill) ‘radicalized Muslim’ attempting to kill a cop “in the name of Islam”.
Mari Schaefer of the Philly Inquirer tweeted that his mother said “He’s been hearing voices.”
The suspect has been identified as Edward Archer. During interrogation, Archer told police that “he pledges allegiance to Islamic State”, said Capt. James Clark, homicide unit commander as reported by philly.com.
The gun that Archer used was a police issued gun stolen from an officer’s home in October of 2013 said Police Commissioner Richard Ross.
The officer was driving north on 60th Street when Archer started shooting from the driver’s side of the car. Archer started shooting from a distance but closed the distance with every shot until he had the muzzle of the gun inside of the open driver’s window of Hartnett patrol car.
Archer fired the stolen gun 13 times, until he ran out of bullets. 13 shots and none being fatal, Archer tried to flee the scene.
Though Hartnett was struck three times, he was able to get out of his cruiser, chase, and shoot at Archer as he tried to get away. Archer was hit in the buttocks. Other officers were quickly able to arrest Archer on the 6000 block of Delancey Street.
Archer was the eldest of seven children and suffered head injuries from playing football and a moped accident said Valerie Holliday, Archer’s mother.
He mother said that they had “asked him to get some medical help” because “he’s been talking to himself…laughing and mumbling.”
Commissioner Ross said that Archer “confessed to committing this act in the name of Islam.”
Even with those statement, the shooting is not being considered a terrorist act. The shooting had “nothing to do” with Islam said Mayor Kenney.
We need more information,” executive director of the Philadelphia chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations, Jacob Bender.
“Was he in contact with any bona fide terrorist or anything like that? We don’t know.” Similar to statements from many other officials, Bender said “This should not be seen as representative of Muslims or the faith of Islam.”
