PHILADELPHIA — A city police officer pursuing an armed suspect Tuesday afternoon was fatally shot, the fourth Philadelphia officer to die in the line of duty in the last year, authorities said. Another officer was wounded and the suspect was killed.
The officer who died, Patrick McDonald, 30, was shot in the chest, Mayor Michael Nutter said. The other officer, 35-year-old Richard Bowes, was shot in the leg. He was in stable condition and expected to be OK, Nutter said.
“We are in pain, and we are very angry about what’s going on here in our city,” Nutter said.
Police said McDonald called for backup around 1:45 p.m., and Bowes was one of several officers to respond. At some point, an officer exchanged fire with the suspect. An automatic weapon was recovered at the scene.
Police did not immediately identify the suspect or release other details about what set off the shooting. His body was found about a half block from where McDonald was shot.
The shooting happened in a residential area near Temple University.
About four hours after McDonald’s death, at least 100 police officers lined a road out of Temple University Hospital to salute their fallen colleague as his body was taken away in a hearse.
McDonald was single with no children; Bowes has three children, police said.
Just this month, Philadelphia police mourned the loss of another officer who died in the line of duty. Officer Isabel Nazario died during a vehicle pursuit when the patrol car in which she was riding was broadsided by a teenager driving a stolen SUV.
In May, Officer Stephen Liczbinski was fatally shot responding to a bank robbery. Officer Chuck Cassidy was fatally shot last October when he interrupted a robbery at a Dunkin’ Donuts.