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An off-duty police officer was shot while attempting to help a fellow officer apprehend a suspect Friday morning in Philadelphia, according to NBC10.
Police Lt. Robert Friel, who was heading home from work, is recovering at a hospital after being shot at a South Philadelphia CVS store while trying to help a fellow officer apprehend an armed man, Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said. https://t.co/i6VPhYB9Ci pic.twitter.com/9tMJVbs7PC
— NBC10 Philadelphia (@NBCPhiladelphia) May 29, 2020
Lt. Robert Friel of the 3rd District Precinct is undergoing surgery at Jefferson University Hospital after being shot in the leg, according to 6abc.
At 6:45 a.m. Friday, a 3rd District officer saw a man and his vehicle that matched the description of an earlier call for a missing suicidal man, said Philadelphia Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw in a press conference attended by 6abc. That man reportedly had two handguns and a high-powered assault rifle. (RELATED: REPORT: In 6 Separate Shootings, 12 People Shot In Philadelphia Within 3 Hours)
Friel saw the officer encounter the man inside of a CVS and attempted to assist during a struggle, according to Outlaw. The man reportedly fired his gun and hit Friel in the leg. The man also obtained the officer’s service weapon and shot the floor, according to the same account. The man was reportedly subdued by the officers and put into custody.
Friel is a 28-year-old veteran of the police department. Authorities, according to 6abc, say the husband and father of three is “in good spirits.” Outlaw said that Friel’s brother, Joseph, was killed in the line of duty in the 1990s by a drunk driver.
“Over the past 24 hours alone, there have been several shootings in different parts of the city, some fatal,” said District Attorney Larry Krasner in an official statement. “Many people in very powerful offices claim to abhor violence, but they are awfully silent when it comes to the violence of poverty and the tyranny of the gun lobby. As a city, a commonwealth, and a nation, we simply must do better.”
Homicide victims in the city are up to 151 this year, a 15% increase from last year, according to the Philadelphia Police Department. There were six different shootings Thursday night into Friday in Philadelphia, which resulted in the deaths of three people, and injuries for several others.