Two days after a Philadelphia cop was shot by a man who said he had pledged loyalty to the Islamic State, the city’s police and the FBI are investigating a tip that the man was part of a group with radical beliefs that might still pose a threat.
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Hours later, police say, Edward Archer confessed to shooting the officer and told investigators he was following Allah, and had pledged his allegiance to the Islamic State group.
In this frame from a Thursday, Jan. 7, 2016 video provided by the Philadelphia Police Department, a man police allege to be Edward Archer runs with a gun toward a police auto driven by Officer Jesse Hartnett in Philadelphia.
“That is abhorrent, it’s bad and it does not represent the religion in any way, shape or form or any of its teachings”, Kenney said.
The officer was approached by the male who said “I’m hungry I haven’t eaten in five days”.
The 9 mm pistol recovered at the scene of the shooting had been stolen from a fellow police officer’s home in October 2013, and investigators were trying to find out how Archer obtained the weapon and whether it passed through other people’s hands since the theft. He was in critical but stable condition, police said today.
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. Police released still images from surveillance video that showed the gunman dressed in a long white robe walking toward the auto and firing, eventually getting close enough to shoot at point-blank range through the window.
Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney also spoke at the Press Conference Friday.
Archer was denied bail and will next appear in court on January 25th.
Police did not immediately return a call from Reuters for comment.
“It’s insane to know there are people who don’t even say anything to you, who just walk up and empty an entire magazine into your auto”, that officer said.
Archer studied Arabic at a local mosque a few years ago, said members of the mosque.
“He later confessed to the shooting, and a Philadelphia police captain told CNN that Archer cited ISIS as inspiration for the attack, which left Hartnett seriously injured”.
“The message is clear: Kill military, attack military installations and kill police officers”.
Commissioner Ross admitted Friday while reviewing photos from the incident that he was “amazed Officer Hartnett is here with us today”.
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Rep. Patrick Meehan (D., Pa.) praised Hartnett’s “tremendous heroism” and said he found Archer’s statements about the Islamic State “troubling”, and called for federal investigators to investigate any possible ties to “overseas radical groups”. “ISIS needs to be destroyed”, Abdulsalaam said, using an acronym for Islamic State militants who have seized parts of Iraq and Syria, declared war on the West and proclaimed a “caliphate” that would rule over all Muslims.
