Philadelphia SWAT Officer Discharged From Hospital After Being Shot While Serving Warrant In Fairhill Neighborhood
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Philadelphia police have been on the scene for more than four hours investigating after a SWAT officer was shot in his bulletproof vest while serving a high-risk drug-related search warrant on Friday.
The officer has since been discharged from Temple University Hospital after receiving treatment.
"Thank God no one was injured today," Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said. "Thank God the officer was able to walk out of the hospital and get home or get quickly to his family."
Around 12:45 p.m., the Philadelphia Police Department's Gun Violence Task Force was serving a warrant for drug-related offenses at a rowhome on Lehigh Avenue and 2nd Street. They were also assisted by SWAT because the warrant was deemed high-risk.
Outlaw said the property has three floors. As officers approached the third-floor door unit, the suspect fired two shots through the wall and struck the lead SWAT officer in the chest.
The bullet struck a trauma plate made out of metal, according to police, on the officer's bulletproof vest. The vest saved his life.
Outlaw said the suspect was apprehended after he dropped down to the second floor. She said officers fired rounds at the suspect, but he was not struck. The suspect is also in the hospital due to injuries from the incident. Outlaw said the suspect is someone that had a warrant out for narcotics distribution.
Nearby businesses locked their doors while employees and customers sheltered in place during the incident.
"When everything happened, they closed everything," Bienvenida Guzman said. "They scared. Everybody scared. Everybody go in the back."
The identities of the officer and suspect are not known at this time.
Lehigh Avenue has reopened between 2nd and Mascher Streets as authorities investigate.
Outlaw said the property is being held due to a search warrant. It was also ruled a hazmat situation due to the fact the property was used to make drugs and pills, Outlaw added.
Outlaw said the entire police department is fed up with the city's gun violence — and she's calling for change.
"It's disheartening, it's frustrating, it's disrespectful, it's a slap in the face," Outlaw said. "It shows how emboldened the individuals we're dealing with have become. They're becoming increasingly violent. It doesn't matter who's around, it doesn't matter the time of day. It doesn't matter the location."
"I have met with you all outside of this hospital I don't know how many times to discuss how many times an officer is either being shot at or an officer being shot," Outlaw added. "It's sickening. It's sickening."
Mayor Jim Kenney echoed those same sentiments made by Outlaw. He's also calling for stricter gun laws.
"Members of the legislature who claim they support police could really support police by getting more of these guns off the streets," Kenney said.
One weapon was recovered at the scene, Outlaw said.
Local and federal authorities have been going in and out of the barbershop in the building where police served the warrant since the shooting.
A man who answered the phone at the barbershop told Eyewitness News that police barged in the shop early Friday afternoon, told everyone to put their hands in the air, and detained all of them for questioning, before heading to the apartment upstairs.
An employee who works at the barbershop told CBS3 that he's at the police station right now being interviewed because detectives seem to think he had something to do with the drugs that were being manufactured.
He says he has nothing to do with it and he doesn't know the gunman because the apartment is separate from the barbershop.
President of the Fraternal Order Police Lodge No. 5 John McNesby released a statement, saying, "We are grateful that our brave SWAT officer will survive today's attempted murder of his life. Our officers and many residents in our city are under siege by violent offenders who care less about accountability. We expect the DA's office to fully prosecute this violent defendant. Now is not the time to cut another sweetheart deal for a defendant who tried to kill a cop."
CBS3 reporters Ross DiMattei and Madeleine Wright contributed to this report.
