OAN’s Elizabeth Volberding
9:34 AM – Sunday, December 11, 2023
A suspected gunman involved in a police chase in Philadelphia instigated a shootout that left two officers and a suspect injured.
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On Sunday at approximately 2 AM, police officers responded to reports of gunfire in the area of Cottman Avenue and Roosevelt Boulevard in Philadelphia.
The arriving police officers observed a pickup truck involved in the shooting that was attempting to flee the scene. There was a brief police pursuit involving two patrol cars and a total of four officers.
The chase resulted in the suspect’s pickup crashing into one of the patrol vehicles nearly five minutes later.
According to officials, as the officers got out of their cars, the suspect started to shoot at them. All four officers also shot fire.
One policeman sustained an injury to the head, while the other sustained injuries to his face and leg.
“Shots fired! I’m shot in the [expletive] face!” one of the officers was heard saying over police radio.
The suspect’s truck was impacted with bullet holes. A truck across the street, owned by resident Sean Fish, was also struck during the incident.
“Just underneath my car there’s 1, 2, 3 4, 5,6 7, 8,” Fish said.
He claimed he was awakened by gunfire. From the window of his second-floor apartment, he watched it all happen.
“I watched for a while, and then the one came running into my room yelling, ‘Get down, get down,’” Fish said.
John Stanford, the interim commissioner of police, has spoken with both of the officers, who are in stable condition at Jefferson Torresdale Hospital.
Stanford declared that it is a “miracle both officers are alive.”
“By the grace of God, we are having this press conference where we are able to say they are in stable condition. They are extremely blessed,” Stanford said. “When I said they will physically recover, it still is a heavy thing, mentally, to know that you’ve been shot in the head, to know that you’ve been shot in the face, just doing your job.”
The suspect is in critical condition. It remains unknown how many times he was struck.
The suspect’s name has not yet been disclosed, however, he is believed to be a 40-year-old man who has several prior firearm-related crimes.
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