Two police officers shot at July 4 celebration in Philadelphia released from hospital
Two police officers have been discharged from the Philadelphia hospital where they were treated for gunshot wounds on Monday night, authorities said.
The officers, whose names were not made public, were identified as longstanding members of local law enforcement bureaus by Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw in comments given to press after midnight. One is 36 years old and currently assigned to the city's highway patrol unit, while the other is 44 and works as a bomb squad technician for the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office.
Outlaw said both officers were stationed in the area of a Fourth of July celebration and concert in central Philadelphia, near the Museum of Art, when the sounds of sudden gunfire sent a wave of panic through the crowd. Video footage showed attendees screaming as they ran from the area.
The officers were the only ones hurt during the shooting, as bullets grazed the highway patrol officer's forehead and the bomb squad technician's right shoulder. The shooting is under investigation by the Philadelphia Police Department, which is still trying to locate a suspect and determine if the officers were deliberately targeted.
"We don't know if this was ricochet from celebratory gunfire [or] whether this was intentional," Outlaw explained, noting that it was unclear how many bullets were fired and those that hit officers could have been strays. No arrests have been made in connection with the shooting as of Tuesday morning.
Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney pleaded with lawmakers to pass stricter gun control measures in remarks addressing the incident, which came just hours after a mass shooting at a Fourth of July parade in Highland Park, Illinois, which killed at least six people.
"This is a gun country," said Kenney. "It's crazy, we're the most armed country in world history and we're one of the least safest. Until Americans decide that they want to give up the guns, and give up the opportunity to get guns, we're going to have this problem."
Kenney added that he will be "happy" when he is no longer mayor.
