By Sarah Calams
PHILADELPHIA — A man was shot Wednesday morning after attacking officers inside a police station.
Police said the 23-year-old male suspect came inside the 39th District to a window with a mask on, NBC Philadelphia reported. However, a seven-year veteran officer who was behind the window couldn’t hear the suspect through the Plexiglass. As a result, the officer opened a side door to speak to the suspect.
“At which point this individual lunged into the operations room, right at the officer,” Philadelphia Police Department Sgt. Eric Gripp told NBC Philadelphia. “The individual was armed with a screwdriver and immediately began fighting with one of the officers in the operations room.”
An officer who was performing administrative duties fired her gun, striking the suspect in the torso, police said. “It all happened within 30 seconds,” Gripp said.
The suspect was taken to a hospital and listed in critical condition.
The first officer who was attacked suffered an injured elbow and hand. A second officer, who tried to disarm the suspect, suffered wounds to the back of his head but is stable and will be discharged from the hospital later today. The officer who discharged her weapon was uninjured.
“We’re very lucky this wasn’t worse than it was,” Gripp told NBC Philadelphia.
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