Man charged over shooting of United States policeman

The man who ambushed a Philadelphia police officer in West Philadelphia Thursday night, shooting him in an attack that detectives say he admits was in allegiance with “the Islamic State”, traveled to the Middle East twice in recent years, according to a report.

Police said Edward Archer, 33, had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State, though there is no proof he has any affiliation with members of the terrorist group. “According to him, he believed that the police defend laws that are contrary to the teachings of the Quran”.

His mother told The Philadelphia Inquirer that Archer, the oldest of seven siblings, had suffered head injuries and had recently been hearing voices, laughing and muttering to himself.

She described him as a longtime “devout” Muslim.

The suspect used a stolen police firearm and fired shots at close-range at Officer Jesse Hartnett while he was in his police vehicle Thursday night, police said.

But the hero police officer managed to fire back, wounding the attacker.

The officer was able to fire a few rounds, hitting the suspect in the buttocks.

Mayor Jim Kenney said the attack wasn’t about Islam. He always wanted to be a police officer, his father said.

A judge has denied Archer bail, and a preliminary hearing is expected to take place on 25 January.

In New York City, where two police officers were shot dead in their patrol auto in a December 2014 attack by a man angry over police killings of unarmed black men, the police department issued a memorandum urging officers to “exercise heightened vigilance and implement proactive measures” in light of the Philadelphia shooting. Shane Archer says Edward did travel to Mecca but he believes the alleged shooting was more closely related to what he calls a mistreatment of black men than a religious statement.

Court records showed that prosecutors dropped the other charges against Archer, including the terroristic threats with intent to terrorize another person and conspiracy. The gunman was apprehended by other officers, Ross said.

Ross repeatedly called Hartnett’s survival “absolutely unbelievable”.

“It’s definitely an area of great investigative interest to us, and we are working with our (Joint Terrorism Task Force) partners in trying to sort out what he was doing there”, Ruona said Saturday.

“He’s awake, he’s coherent, he’s OK”, Ross said.

The FBI is assisting Philadelphia police with the investigation. He is a five-year veteran of the Philadelphia PD, having transferred from another department in a lateral move. “This is a criminal with a stolen gun who tried to kill one of our officers”, Kenney said Friday.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations, the leading U.S. Muslim advocacy group, on Friday said Archer “does not appear” to be an observant Muslim.