PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A Philadelphia police officer was shot multiple times in the arm at point blank range by a man who ambushed him as he sat in his marked police cruiser, authorities said.
Police Commissioner Richard Ross said the suspect fired a total of 13 shots that hit the officer and his car late Thursday. He said the officer returned fire, hitting his assailant at least three times.
“This is absolutely one of the scariest things I’ve ever seen,” Ross said at a news conference a few hours later. “This guy tried to execute the police officer. The police officer had no idea he was coming.”
The suspect ran away, but was quickly apprehended by other officers.
Ross said there was no apparent motive for the attack.
The officer and the suspect were taken to area hospitals for treatment. There was no immediate word on the suspect’s condition. The officer is expected to survive.
Jim Kenney, who is in his first week as mayor of the nation’s fifth largest city, said, “There are just too many guns on the streets and I think our national government needs to do something about that.”
His statement comes on the heels of President Barack Obama announcement on Tuesday of his plan to tighten control and enforcement of firearms in the U.S.
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