PHILADELPHIA — A police pursuit of a suspected gunman ended in a shootout that left two officers and a suspect wounded, police said.
The shooting happened around 2:30 a.m. Sunday, interim city Police Commissioner John Stanford said, after officers responded to reports of gunfire and saw a pickup truck that was occupied by a man believed to have been involved. The man initially stopped the truck after an officer activated his emergency lights, but he then drove off as the officer approached the vehicle on foot.
Officers soon spotted the truck again, and the pursuit ended when the driver rammed a police car. He then got out and started shooting at police, Stanford said.
Four officers returned fire, striking the 40-year-old man at least once. He was taken to a hospital and underwent surgery, and he was listed in critical condition.
One officer, a 32-year-old man who has served on the force for nine years, had a graze wound to the bridge of his nose and was treated at a hospital. The other wounded officer, a 31-year-old man who has served on the force for six years, was shot in the ankle and had a graze wound to his head. He was hospitalized in stable condition, and his injuries were not considered life-threatening.
The vehicle the two wounded officers had been in was the one that was rammed, police said. It also was struck by several shots, and its rear passenger window was shattered by gunfire.
Stanford said one of the injured officers had been wounded in a previous shooting, but he didn't disclose additional details.
The names of the officers and the suspected shooter were not immediately released. No other injuries were reported in the chase or the shootout.
The four officers who fired shots at the suspect have been put on administrative duty while the shooting is investigated, which is standard policy in such matters.
