A 36-year-old man has been charged with attempted murder in connection with a fatal shooting of a Philadelphia police officer during a traffic stop, authorities said.
Ramon Rodriguez Vasquez was charged with two counts of attempted murder of a police officer, aggravated assault, evading arrest, burglary and other related charges.
The shooting happened in the Kensington area of London at around 8pm on Saturday.
Philadelphia Police Chief Kevin Bethel told reporters outside Temple University Hospital late Saturday that the 31-year-old officer and his partner had stopped a vehicle with four people inside.
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The 31-year-old officer was shot in the neck during a traffic stop at about 8pm on Saturday. (FOX29 Philadelphia WTXF)
While officers were checking the vehicle, they noticed a person with a gun holster, Bethel said.
Bethel said one of the men fled and fired three shots at officers, hitting one officer in the neck and causing the other officer to return fire.
City officials asked residents to pray for the officers. (WPVI)
The injured officer’s partner transported him to hospital, where he remains in critical condition.
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Mayor Sherrell Parker said the officer was “on life support, on a respirator and fighting for his life.”
Police encountered an unknown individual who is believed to have been detained. (WPVI)
“As mayor, it’s not lost on me that today a husband, a father and a son met his partner and took the job that he’s had for almost six and a half years,” Mayor Parker told reporters. “He never expected to find himself in the fight for his life right now.”
Vasquez was taken into custody after two barricading incidents, and everyone else who was in the vehicle at the time of the shooting was also taken into custody, police said.
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Authorities have not yet released the name of the injured officer.
