Trending Topics

Suspect in pregnant woman’s death shot by Philly officer

The suspect grabbed a gun, ran, then spun and fired at police after they entered his apartment

Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA — €” A suspect wanted in a pregnant woman’s slaying shot an officer in his bulletproof vest early Wednesday before police killed him, the city’s police commissioner said.

Commissioner Charles Ramsey would not release the suspect’s name at a news briefing, saying authorities were still working to notify the man’s family.

The 17-year veteran SWAT officer was part of a team serving an arrest warrant in the woman’s killing. The suspect grabbed a gun, ran, then spun and fired at police after they entered his apartment about at 6:10 a.m., Ramsey said.

The vest the officer was wearing had an extra-long flap covering his lower abdomen, which likely saved his life, the commissioner said.

Police returned fire, striking the suspect. He died about 40 minutes later at Aria Health Torresdale Hospital, where Ramsey later addressed the media.

The officer, who has two children, has a “nasty bruise” but should be OK, Ramsey said. He was released from the hospital Wednesday morning.

The unidentified officer had been shot on duty once before, Ramsey said.

The warrant being served involved the death last fall of a woman who was eight months pregnant, police said. Megan Doto, 26, died Sept. 14 after being struck by stray gunfire while sitting outside in the Frankford section of Philadelphia.

Doctors were able to deliver her baby, but the newborn girl died 12 hours later. Doto had two other children.

On Sept. 16, police issued an arrest warrant for city resident Devon Guisherd in Doto’s death.

Copyright 2015 The Associated Press

RECOMMENDED FOR YOU