Officer shot after driver flees traffic stop in North Philadelphia, police say
A police officer was shot in North Philadelphia by a man who fled a traffic stop and then took his own life, officials said.
The incident started around 9 p.m. Tuesday when two officers attempted to pull the man over near 22nd Street and Lehigh Avenue in Philadelphia's Strawberry Mansion neighborhood.
Police said the man drove off and crashed at North 23rd Street and West Indiana Avenue. Two highway patrol officers saw the incident and tried to stop the driver.
According to police, the driver fired shots at those officers, hitting one officer in his right hand and also hitting the windshield of a police car. The officer who was shot may have also been hit in the jacket, but he was not injured from that, Philadelphia Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel said.
The commissioner said the driver then fled from the scene and died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Police later identified the man as Brandon Williams, 29.
The injured officer was taken to Temple University Hospital. He has since been released from the hospital.
"It's a blessing when we have officers come under fire and we do not lose a life ... This is what we do," Bethel said.
The officer, a 38-year-old who has been on the force for about 10 years and has a young child, is "doing well," Bethel told reporters outside the hospital.
"We again are just grateful ... understanding the dangers of this job, the work that these men put in each and every day, but we're grateful tonight that our multiple officers came under fire and fortunately that we're here to be able to talk to a young man who has a 1-year-old child, and he is doing well," Bethel said.
Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker asked people to pray for the city.
"We have had some challenging days," she said.
"The city of Philadelphia is grateful for those who do this on the daily basis," Parker said. "They leave out of their houses, they leave their families, and they don't know what they are going to encounter on the job. They put it on the line, again, to protect and serve the city of Philadelphia, and I am grateful."
Officers did not fire at the suspect, police said.
