A gunman ambushed
and shot a Philadelphia police sergeant late Friday, then embarked on a rampage
that injured four civilians and a University of Pennsylvania police officer
before he was killed, the city's police commissioner said.
Richard Ross Jr.
told a press conference early Saturday that two of the injured civilians were
in critical condition, while the law enforcment officials were in stable
condition.
Officials did not
disclose the suspect's motive or his identity. However, Fox29 reported that
a note written by the suspect expressed hatred of police officers.
The shooting
happened at around 11:20 p.m. in West Philadelphia, a few blocks from the
University of Pennsylvania campus.
Ross said the
violence began when the suspect approached Sgt. Sylvia Young, a 19-year veteran
of the force, as she sat in her police car and opened fire.
The commissioner
said that Young was shot at least eight times and some of the shots were
deflected by her bulletproof vest.
"It is
absolutely amazing that she is here [alive]," Ross said, adding that the
suspect did not say anything before he opened fire.
Officials said the
suspect fled the scene before opening fire at a nearby bar. Ross said two
people were injured there; a bar security guard who was shot in the left leg
and a woman who the suspect used as a human shield before shooting her in the
leg.
Ross said the
suspect fled that scene and shot a couple who were sitting in a nearby car. At
that point, Ross said the suspect was killed during an exchange of gunfire with
the University of Pennsylvania Police officer. That officer was identified as
56-year-old Eddie Miller, a retired Philadelphia cop.
CBS Philadelphia
reported that Miller was wounded in his hand.
Friday's shooting
was the second ambush of a Philadelphia police officer this year. In January, 30-year-old Edward
Archer shot Officer Jesse Hartnett multiple times as Hartnett
sat in his squad car.
Archer told
investigators he "acted in the name of Islam" and "pledges his
allegiance to [ISIS]", authorities said at the time.
"This is a
dangerous job, it always has been," Ross said Saturday, "[but] this
is a tough time in policing for a lot of reasons."
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