Investigators are searching for a man who they say opened fire at a plainclothes officer in an unmarked vehicle in Philadelphia. Fortunately the officer was not hurt.
A gunman in a hoodie opened fire at a police officer in Southwest Philadelphia Tuesday evening, investigators said.
The officer was in plainclothes in an unmarked car on 60th Street and Kingsessing Avenue around 6:40 p.m. when an unidentified man approached the vehicle, investigators said. The man then pulled out a gun and fired multiple times, striking the car twice before fleeing the scene on foot.
"When the officer got fired upon, he believed he was shot at 10 times," Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Scott Small said. "But we did find eight spent shell casings so we know at least eight shots were fired from a semi-automatic weapon."
The officer wasn't hurt and drove off before pulling over. Responding police officers and a SWAT team then searched the area but the suspect has not been found.
"Kids were out, people were walking. Someone could've gotten hurt," Tammy Harris, a witness, told NBC10. "All I could do is look at the car and say, 'Thank God I came out alive.'"
The suspect is described as a 6-foot, 1-inch man wearing a hooded sweatshirt and blue jeans and he was last seen running through an alley.
Police also said the man may be connected to a homicide on Friday about a mile away from Tuesday's shooting. But, it's not clear what sparked the shooting or if the shooter knew the person in the vehicle was an officer.
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If you have any information on the shooting, please contact Philadelphia police.
