Philadelphia Inquirer
PHILADELPHIA — An off-duty Pennsylvania Capitol Police officer and a bystander were shot tonight inside the crowded lobby of The Bridge theater in University City when the officer tried to stop a masked gunman from robbing the theater, Philadelphia police said.
The gunman fled the theater on Walnut Street just west of the bustling 40th Street intersection, police said.
Both the 42-year-old Capitol Police officer and 22-year-old male bystander were in stable condition at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.
The shooting occurred about 7 p.m. after an armed man wearing a mask entered the theater and opened an unattended cash register behind the ticket counter, said Lt. John F. Walker of Southwest Detectives.
The gunman did not speak as he took cash from the register, Walker said.
The officer, whose name was not released, was waiting in line to buy tickets at another register when he saw the robbery and identified himself as a police officer, Walker said.
The gunman fired twice, striking the officer in the left shoulder and the bystander, who was standing behind him in line, in the right leg, Walker said.
The injured officer returned fire three times, but it was not known if the gunman was hit, Walker said.
The assailant was last seen fleeing west on Walnut Street.
The Capitol Police officer is assigned to Philadelphia to provide protective services at state facilities in the city.
The theater was closed once the police arrived and Walnut Street blocked was off as city police and University of Pennsylvania police worked the crime scene.
Copyright 2010 Philadelphia Inquirer