By The newspaper
Jun 24, 2024, 02:44 AM EDT
A man of Hispanic origin was arrested and charged with attempted murder after wounding a police officer in the neck, who was trying to conduct a traffic stop. The officer remains in critical condition at Temple University Hospital, police said.
The authorities identified Ramón Rodríguez Vázquez, 36, as responsible for allegedly shooting at the officer. The suspect faces charges including aggravated assault and burglary.
Officers saw a gun holster
The 31-year-old officer and his partner stopped a car carrying four people shortly before 8:00 p.m. Saturday in the Kensington neighborhood of Northeast Philadelphia, city Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel shared.
The officers were doing an inventory of the vehicle when they saw a gun holster, then Vazquez fled, turned around and fired three shots at the officers. The officer was hit and his partner returned fire, Bethel said.
“I often come here with a lot of anger, for what my men and women must endure,” said Betel, during a conference. He added that he had just come from a meeting of 75 to 100 police officers where they held hands to pray for the officer, and that in this case he would go before the public to ask people throughout the city to do the same. same.
“All those responsible in custody”
The suspect in the shooting and all the people who were in the car “as well as a person of interest who was involved in the shooting were in custody. “We believe that all those responsible are in custody,” including Vázquez’s girlfriend, and no one else is being sought.
Gov. Josh Shapiro said in a statement that he and his wife joined in those prayers. “We are thinking of his family, as well as his fellow officers, who last night were forced to take one of their own to the hospital.”
Mayor Cherelle Parker made a social media post sharing that the officer has been on the force for six and a half years. Additionally, that he was “on life support” with a respirator.
He also asked residents to pray for “a husband, a father and a son” who was doing “noble work in very difficult circumstances.” “She didn’t expect to be fighting for her life.”
The Temple University Police Association, the officers’ union, called the shooting a “tragic night for our brothers and sisters with PPD.”
Multiple charges against suspect
Authorities announced that Vázquez faces: two counts of attempted murder and aggravated assault on an officer, as well as illegal possession of weapons, evading arrest, tampering with physical evidence and related crimes.
He was also charged with robbery, kidnapping and related crimes after police say he broke into a nearby home and barricaded himself inside, attempting to avoid arrest after the crash.
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