After he was shot, Hartnett managed to get out of his patrol auto and return fire at Archer, wounding him in the buttocks.
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A Philadelphia police officer who was shot at point-blank range Thursday night by a gunman who said he did it “in the name of Islam” is recovering as federal investigators try to determine whether the suspect in custody has links to the Islamic State.
“The Philadelphia Police Department has alerted all department personnel of this matter and will continue to have officers work with a partner until further notice”, a statement from the department said.
Archer’s mother, Valerie Holliday, told the Philadelphia Inquirer her son was a devout Muslim, but suffered head injuries from playing football and in a moped accident.
The FBI is assisting the Philadelphia Police with the investigation.
Two days after the ambush, an officer was on duty covering for Hartnett at the hospital when he was assaulted by an unidentified 40-year-old male.
Investigators have found no ties between the shooter and ISIS or any other militant group, and a US Muslim advocacy group said it could find no evidence that Archer was a practicing Muslim.
“When you look at the video – we have some video we captured of this – this is absolutely one of the scariest things I’ve ever seen”, said Philadelphia Police Commissioner Richard Ross.
Archer’s former attorney, Doug Dolfman, says Archer does not have links to terrorists. Police say the officer gave the man $5 and then entered the building.
According to police, the suspect said he wanted the gun to use to rob a store, and there was no connection to the shooting of Hartnett, who was wounded by a man using a police handgun that had been stolen in 2013.
Prosecutors on Saturday charged the man police say attempted to execute an officer Thursday night with attempted murder, aggravated assault, reckless endangerment and other charges. A woman approached a police officer in Center City and told him that Archer is one of a group of four and that he is not the most radical.
The officer quickly spun around, preventing the suspect from removing his gun, and engaged in a brief struggle before subduing him with assistance from the Penn Security team and other officers at the scene.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations, the leading U.S. Muslim advocacy group, on Friday said Archer “does not appear” to be an observant Muslim.
“There was a terrorist attack yesterday, in the city of Philadelphia”. She said the family had asked him to get help.
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Archer after arrest has reportedly confessed and said that he carried out the shooting in the name of Islam. Records also show he was scheduled to be sentenced Monday in suburban Philadelphia in a traffic and forgery case.
