An ambush-style shooting in west Philadelphia left two people dead this morning and at least five others hurt. “They will save your life, as we saw tonight”. Police said Saturday the woman died and the man was in critical condition.
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Sgt. Sylvia Young of the Philadelphia Police Department was ambushed in her squad vehicle, police said.
Police Commissioner Richard Ross identified the gunman in the Friday overnight attack as 25-year-old Nicholas Glenn, who was “well-known” to police and has a criminal record. The suspect reportedly used a woman as a human shield to protect himself from officers. Police believe the gunman wrote the note and acted alone. One officer was cracking jokes with his kids and wife. Ross said she is talking and is going to be OK.
He said there was no indication that the shooter had been radicalized – in possible contrast to a man in the same neighborhood who opened fire on a police officer early tis year and said he had done so “in the name of terrorism”.
Soon after, the suspect shot at a nearby auto, hitting a man and woman in the chest. Ross said, “This is a completely freaky situation”. Ross said there is no reason to believe the suspect was “radicalized” after searching multiple addresses linked to him.
The university police officer was shot in the pelvis and the right ankle, police said, and he is in stable condition at a hospital.
“We’ve got shots fired at us!” one officer can be heard yelling into his police radio during the chase.
Aside from the officers, the identities of the suspect and others shot in the spree were not immediately released. That happened not far from where Friday night’s rampage began.
During Glenn’s attempt to flee after shooting the sergeant, he shot a security guard, a bar patron, and two people inside a vehicle, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported. “We are blessed to have the best university police department in the nation, and it would be impossible to adequately express how deeply appreciative the entire Penn community is for the expertise and caring commitment of these fine officers. But our officers turned out okay, and hopefully the civilians will turn out okay”, said Mayor Kenney.
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Pat Toomey, R-Pa. “This awful rampage. provides yet another example of the risks and sacrifices our law enforcement officers make every day to protect the rest of us, and why they deserve our gratitude and support”.
