Philadelphia police officer killed, another wounded in shooting at airport parking garage

One Philadelphia police officer was killed and another wounded during a shooting inside a parking garage at the Philadelphia International Airport, authorities said.

The officers — a 50- and 60-year-old assigned to the Airport Unit — were arriving for the start of their shift Thursday night when the deadly violence unfolded, interim Police Commissioner John Stanford said at a late-night news conference. When they pulled into parking garage D shortly after 11 p.m., they spotted a group of people attempting to break into a car parked in the same area.

While one of the officers was in full uniform, the second had not yet fully suited up before he was forced to spring into action.

“The officers approached to essentially disrupt and investigate what’s going on,” Stanford continued. “At that point, the suspects opened fire on the officers, striking one of our officers multiple times in the upper torso, striking the other officer in the arm.”

The younger officer was rushed to an area hospital, where he died shortly after 11:30 p.m., according to authorities. He’d been with the force for 22 years. His comrade, a 20-year department veteran, was also hospitalized in the wake of the gunfire and is currently listed in stable condition.

Neither of their names have been released.

Police said the suspects fled in a stolen Dodge Durango, which is currently being sought. The same model of car dropped off an 18-year-old man at the hospital, though authorities are still working to determine whether he was involved in the airport shooting.

He suffered two gunshots and ultimately succumbed to his wounds.

Stanford noted that the shooting came only a week after three officers were shot and wounded while responding to a call.

“A numb, numb moment for us, to again encounter something like this,” he said. “We just had three officers shot last week. And then this tonight, so you can imagine what we feel. We can imagine what this department is going through. And quite frankly, how the city should be feeling.”

With News Wire Services