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Panicked crowds dispersed after two police officers were shot near Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia while thousands attended a concert and fireworks show on Monday night, July 4th.
One officer sustained a head injury and the other a gunshot wound to the right shoulder, Philadelphia Police Department Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said shortly after midnight Tuesday. Both were treated and discharged from Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, he said.
A photo provided to NBC10 by John McNesby, president of the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge no. 5, showed a bullet placed in an officer’s cap. Inside the cap was a commemorative card from a Philadelphia police chaplain who recently died.
“It’s miraculous that the round stopped at the hat,” Outlaw said.
The officer who grazed the head is a 36-year-old PPD road patrol officer and the other is a 44-year-old Montgomery County sheriff’s deputy, the commissioner said. Both were part of the festival’s security detail, he said.
The gunman was not arrested or identified immediately. It was unclear whether officers were attacked or whether they were beaten during “celebration shots” in the middle of the July 4 festivities, Outlaw said.
“The good news is that the two agents have been treated and released since then, and what could really have been a chaotic scene or a catastrophic scene has not been today,” he said.
The shooting occurred around 9:47 p.m. near the Philadelphia Museum of Art during the finale of the 16-day Wawa Welcome America festival, while crowds watched a fireworks show after a headline concert by Jason Derulo on the road, police said.
The shots hit officers along the 2500 block of Spring Garden Street, behind where the concert took place, Outlaw said. Several people could be seen running from the area. Police ordered people from nearby buildings to take refuge in their place.
“I didn’t hear the shots, but the cops said,‘ Run, run, run, ’” a woman told NBC10.
NBC10 had several journalists in the area covering the festival.
NBC10’s Leah Uko was doing an interview when people started running away from gunshots during a July 4 celebration.
NBC10 reporter Leah Uko reported a “stampede” of people running toward the concert stage. Uko was interviewing a group of teenagers when an NBC10 camera captured the moments when people, including several visibly distressed children, began screaming and dispersing.
He said he helped three people get on stage and protected themselves behind a DJ podium. A man who spoke to the show’s director told them to stay there until it was safe enough to “get back to their vehicles quickly,” Uko said.
NBC10’s Tim Furlong said he saw a “wave of people” running from near Eakins Oval down the road. Several children were crying during the confusing moments of the crowd and police officers at the scene, Furlong said.
Journalist Karen Hua reported that she had landed inside a tent with other people.
“We’ve made a fort around us with catering equipment. Everyone is crying or screaming,” Hua tweeted. “It’s been a night of absolute horror and terror,” Hua later said.
Mayor Jim Kenney lamented what he said was easy access for people to guns. He blamed the Republican-controlled state legislature, which prevents Philadelphia from enacting stricter gun control measures, as well as the U.S. Congress, which recently was able to pass some moderate gun control laws after a series of mass shootings across the country. .
He also criticized the culture of weapons in the US
“We are the most armed country in world history and one of the least secure. So until the Americans decide they want to give up guns and give up the opportunity to get guns, we will have that problem, ”he said.
The Philadelphia Police Department gave instructions to those who want to reunite with their loved ones to meet at 1901 Vine St. in front of the Philadelphia Free Library. Anyone else was asked to walk away. The center closed at 1 p.m.
At around 11pm, police officers were seen using flashlights across an area from near 19th Street and the road to Eakins Oval, a search that was not immediately fruitful.
Several people sought refuge in the Parke Town apartments, which are on the side of the road. Residents were asked to “keep calm” during police activity “on the spot, throughout the community.” All towers in the complex were closed “until we have more information available,” the company said in an email.
Later, residents were able to re-enter. Police officers at the resort told an NBC10 producer that their search there ended up having nothing to do with the shooting.
There are additional resources for individuals or communities who have suffered armed violence in Philadelphia. You can find more information here.