PHILADELPHIA – Two Highway Patrol Officers were hospitalized early Sunday morning after a shootout in Northeast Philadelphia. According to Philadelphia Police, officers were responding to reports of gunshots near Cottman Avenue and Roosevelt Boulevard around 2 a.m. Sunday. When officers surveying the area saw a vehicle matching the description of a pickup truck possibly involved in the shooting, they tried to pull the driver over.
The driver fled and led officers on a chase.
CBS reports that officers eventually located the truck where two Highway Patrol vehicles with four total officers attempted to stop the car. The fleeing driver then rammed one of the Highway Patrol vehicles, and when the officers got out of their cars, the suspect started firing at the officers.
All four officers that were shot at returned fire, but two Highway Patrol officers were hit; one was shot in the head, the other was shot in the face and leg.
Both were taken to Jefferson Torresdale Hospital by police, and are in stable condition Sunday morning.
The suspect was identified as a 40-year-old man with multiple prior convictions. He was shot and in critical condition.
The officers have not yet been identified.