An off-duty police officer was shot while shielding his young son from gunfire along a North Philadelphia street Friday evening.
Angelo Romero, an officer in the department’s 15th District, and the 2-year-old were standing along Parrish Street near 10th around 4:45 p.m. when two or three teens come around the corner with guns.
Philadelphia Police Commissioner Richard Ross said the teens, who could be between 15 and 18 years old, began firing at each other.
Romero was struck by at least one bullet in the thumb, Ross said. Bullet fragments also peppered his legs and buttocks.
The officer, who was not armed, ran his son into a relative’s home and tried to take himself to the hospital, Ross said. The boy was not physically injured, though witnesses said his dad’s blood splattered on his face.
A highway officer on patrol nearby rushed to the scene and took Romero to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital.
The suspects remain outstanding.
