Officials released surveillance video of a man who they say attacked and tried to steal a gun from a Philadelphia Police officer who was visiting the victim of Thursday’s ambush shooting at Penn Presbyterian Hospital.
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Archer, from Yeadon, Pennsylvania, about 25 minutes from Philadelphia, allegedly shot at Police Officer Jesse Hartnett more than 10 times, hitting him three times, leaving him in a critical but stable condition.
The Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office tweeted yesterday that Archer was being held without bail after he was “charged with attempted murder and related crimes for the shooting of police officer Jesse Hartnett”. Court documents indicate that he will be represented by the Defender Association of Philadelphia, which couldn’t be reached Saturday for comment.
That’s all leading up to 11:40 p.m. Thursday night, when Archer, wearing a white sheer robe, fired 13 shots at a Philadelphia police officer, including firing inside the driver’s side window. Other officers chased Archer and apprehended him about a block away. After his arrest, Archer allegedly told authorities he was “following Allah” and pledged allegiance to ISIS, and he believed the police department defends laws that are contrary to Islam.
Police say the man claimed to be trying to take the officer’s gun to conduct a robbery at a store.
The woman who stopped police over the weekend reportedly told the cop that “the threat is not over” and continued to say that Archer is affiliated with a group of three other Muslim men, according to 6abc.
Archer’s mother told the Philadelphia Inquirer that her son, the oldest of seven children, had suffered head injuries from football and a moped accident.
Investigators believe Archer traveled to Saudi Arabia in 2011 and to Egypt in 2012. They also posted on Facebook that the FBI is investigating the tip as well.
Ross added that he was “absolutely amazed” that Hartnett, an officer with four years’ experience, had survived.
Archer’s pledge to ISIS is sure to inflame already-high fears of lone-wolf terrorism.
There was no evidence as yet that the shooter had worked with anyone else, Ross said.
Mayor Kenney called Archer a criminal and said his actions were no reflection on Islam. “It has nothing to do with being a Muslim or following the Islamic faith”.
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Last year, he was sentenced to nine to 23 months in prison after pleading guilty to charges of carrying an unlicensed gun and assault. “More combative”, said Jannah Abdulsalaam, who asked only to be identified by her Muslim name. A message for his lawyer in the forgery case was not immediately returned.
