Two Philadelphia police officers were attacked with a screwdriver inside a station Wednesday by a man who was then shot and seriously wounded.
The incident happened shortly after 9 a.m. at the department's 39th Police District headquarters, KYW-TV reports. A 23-year-old man wearing a mask entered the building's lobby and tried to say something through a glass barrier.
When officers couldn't understand him, they opened a locked door to the operations room, and the man, who was carrying a screwdriver, rushed in. Once inside, he began to fight with two officers.
One officer opened fire, striking the suspect in the torso. He was taken to the hospital, where he underwent surgery.
The officers in the attack were also injured. No details were released on whether the officers were stabbed or suffered other injuries from the struggle.
“It’s always one of those things where it’s a judgment call,” said Sgt. Eric Gripp about whether the door should have been opened for the man. “Sometimes people come to the window, and most of our districts, they have a plexiglass window that’s up ahead. And oftentimes, there’s people that just we can’t hear them. It’s not uncommon for us to go out in the lobby to try and get up close and personal and take a report from individuals. Again, it’s not uncommon. Just unfortunately this time, we’re very fortunate it wasn’t worse than it was.”
The shooting is under investigation.
