21 hours ago
Philadelphia school officer critical after shooting by alleged road rage driver
An armed driver got into a road rage incident before shooting and injuring a Philadelphia school safety officer trying to help someone involved in the incident, authorities said Sunday.
Just before 2 a.m., officers were called out to the 300 block of North Christopher Columbus Boulevard, near Race Street Pier, for a report of gunshots, Philadelphia Police Inspector D F Pace said.
When officers arrived, they found the school resource officer in his patrol vehicle, which he had crashed while trying to drive himself to the hospital after being shot.
Pace said preliminary information into the investigation indicates that the shooting stemmed from a road rage incident on Interstate 95 involving two civilian vehicles.
He said operators of a black Dodge Ram pickup truck and a white Hyundai SUV became involved in an incident on the highway. The Dodge driver pulled off I-95 onto Columbus Boulevard and flagged down the school resource officer, who they thought was a Philadelphia police officer.
Pace said the Dodge operator was from out of state and did not know the area.
When the officer began to intervene, the driver or the white Hyundai SUV rolled up and opened fire striking the officer multiple times before fleeing the scene, according to Pace.
Once medics were on scene they rushed the officer to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, where he was listed in critical condition but expected to survive.
Police continue to search for the white Hyundai SUV.
