A shooting at Philadelphia International Airport left one police officer dead and another injured. The incident occurred around 11 pm (local time) on Thursday. At that time, both officers, who had been assigned to the Airport Unit, were about to go to work and were in the Terminal D parking garage.
They saw several people breaking into a car in the terminal’s parking lot. As they approached the vehicle, acting Police Commissioner John Stanford told the AP, "the suspects opened fire." Several bullets hit the upper half of one of the officers while another hit the other police officer in the arm.
Stanford reported that the police officer who was shot in the upper half of his body died shortly after 11:30 p.m. at the Penn Presbyterian Medial Center. His identity was not revealed but the Philadelphia police department reported that the officer was 50 years old, had 22 years of service and was married with a son. Stanford told NBC that both officers were taken to the hospital: "As you can imagine, heartbroken, devastated, that their family member is not coming home tonight."
The other officer, who is 60 years old, was admitted to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. According to Stanford at the press conference, he is in stable condition. Meanwhile, the interim commissioner posted on his X account (formerly Twitter), that the police department is trying to find the shooters:
Anger, devastation and heartbreak are the emotions. One officer gave his life tonight and one is recovering. Please wrap your arms and prayers around their families and our department. We will continue our search for those responsible and won't stop until all are in custody! https://t.co/HpZaT7NHFR
— John M. Stanford (@PPDCommish) October 13, 2023
