The suspect in the wounding of a Philadelphia police officer in an execution-style ambush told officers he carried out the attack “in the name of Islam,” police said Friday.
Police Commissioner Richard Ross said the suspect, Edward Archer, 30, fired 13 shots from a semiautomatic pistol that hit Officer Jessie Hartnett, 33, and his car Thursday night. Hartnett returned fire, hitting the gunman at least three times. Archer was quickly taken into custody by other officers after fleeing the scene, police said.
Archer, who was wearing a long white robe over dark pants during the attack, “confessed to committing this cowardly act in the name of Islam. He said he believes that the police defend laws that are contrary to the teaching of the Koran,” Ross said at a news conference Friday.
