Man charged with attempted murder in shooting of Philly cop

Philadelphia police and the FBI are investigating a tip that the self-proclaimed ISIS-inspired shooter who attacked a Philly cop Thursday may be part of a larger group targeting officers, a law enforcement source told Fox News on Sunday.

Ross said the attacker told authorities he was pledging allegiance to ISIL, the terrorist group that controls parts of Iraq and Syria.

Archer’s mother told The Philadelphia Inquirer her son had been hearing voices recently and had felt targeted by police.

A still image from surveillance video shows a gunman approaching a Philadelphia Police vehicle in which Officer Jesse Hartnett was shot shortly before midnight January 7, 2016 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

He was also accused of aggravated assault and assault on a uniformed officer.

Hartnett, 33, was shot three times in the arm and will require multiple surgeries, but was listed in stable condition.

“The message is clear: Kill military, attack military installations and kill police officers”.

The FBI has launched an investigation into why the suspect visited Saudi Arabia and Egypt in 2011 and 2012, respectively.

Hartnett, an 18th District officer with five years on the force, was patrolling alone on 60th Street when Archer strode toward his cruiser around 11:40 p.m. Thursday.

Jacob Bender, executive director of the Philadelphia chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said Archer’s actions did not represent those of Muslims or the Islamic faith.

The report said the three other men frequent the area where the shooting took place and that officers should be careful there.

Officers across the city on Sunday said they were uneasy in light of the unprovoked attack on Hartnett and the new information given to officers in the same West Philadelphia neighborhood where the shooting happened.

The officer quickly spun around, preventing the suspect from removing his gun, and engaged in a brief struggle before subduing him with assistance from the Penn Security team and other officers at the scene.

It is not clear how strong a connection, if any, Archer may have had to the Islamic State.

“[Archer] confessed to committing this cowardly act in the name of Islam…According to him, he believed that the police defend laws that are contrary to the teachings of the Quran.”

“He stated that he pledges his allegiance to Islamic State, he follows Allah and that is the reason he was called upon to do this”, Capt. James Clark said at Friday’s news conference. He’s been talking to himself… laughing and mumbling. He pleaded guilty a year ago to charges of simple assault and carrying a firearm without a license. “More combative”, said Jannah Abdulsalaam, who asked only to be identified by her Muslim name.

“The citizen alleged the defendant had an affiliation to a group with radical beliefs”, the statement read.