2 Philadelphia police officers shot in Holmesburg; suspect also shot

This story originally appeared on 6abc.

Two Philadelphia police officers are in the hospital after being shot and wounded early Sunday morning in the Holmesburg section of the city.

The suspect in this shooting was also hit and is now in critical condition.

It all began with officers responding to a report of shots fired in the area of Cottman Avenue and the Roosevelt Boulevard around 2 a.m. Sunday.

Arriving officers noticed a pickup truck involved in the shooting fleeing the scene.

There was a short pursuit involving two patrol cars and a total of four officers.

The chase ended with the suspect’s pickup ramming one of the patrol vehicles in the area of Frankford Avenue and Welsh Road about five minutes later.

Police say as the officers got out of their cars, the suspect began shooting at them. All four officers returned fired.

One of the officers was grazed in the nose, while the other was struck in the ankle and grazed in the head.

“Shots fired! I’m shot in the [expletive] face!” One of the officers can be heard saying over police radio.

The suspect’s truck was riddled with bullet holes. A truck across the street, owned by resident Sean Fish, was also hit.

“Just underneath my car there’s 1, 2, 3 4, 5,6 7, 8,” Fish said.

He said the gunfire woke him up. He watched everything unfold from his second-floor apartment window.

“I watched for a while, and then the one came running into my room yelling, ‘Get down, get down,'” he said.

Both officers were transported to Jefferson Torresdale Hospital and listed in stable condition. One officer has since been released.

Interim Police Commissioner John Stanford has spoken to both men.

One officer has been with the department for 9 years. The other officer has been on the force for six years, and police say this is the second time he has been shot while on duty. Both of the officers are in their 30s.

Stanford said it’s 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’s not yet known how many times he was hit.

The suspect’s name has not been released, but he is said to be a 40-year-old man who has multiple priors including several firearms offenses.

A firearm was recovered.

It’s not yet clear how many shots were fired. It’s also not yet known if anyone was shot at the original scene at Cottman and the Boulevard.

The scene was cleared and roads were reopened in the area of the shooting by 10 a.m.

All discharging officers have been placed on administrative duty pending the outcome of the Officer-Involved Shooting Investigation and Internal Affairs investigation.

This is the second time in just two months that a pair of Philadelphia police officers were shot in a single incident.

“We have these press conferences over and over again where our officers are involved in these types of incidents. That, one, displays the commitment they have but also displays the lack of respect for law enforcement,” Stanford said.

Back on October 12, officers Richard Mendez and Raul Ortiz were shot in a parking garage at Philadelphia International Airport when they tried to stop a late-night car break-in.

Mendez was killed in the shooting. He was later posthumously promoted to sergeant.

Three suspects were arrested while a fourth was killed in the shootout.