A Philadelphia SWAT team officer was shot to death early Friday while attempting to carry out an arrest warrant for a man wanted in a 2019 murder, according to police.
Cpl. James O'Connor, 46, is the first police office to be killed in the line of duty since 2015, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Philadelphia Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw confirmed O’Connor had died from his injuries.
“We just want everybody to know it’s a very sad day, not just for officers here, but it’s a very sad day for the family who is here and who is mourning and is still trying to stomach all this,” said Outlaw at a news conference after the shooting, according to the Inquirer.
O’Connor was a 23-year veteran of the force and had a wife and two grown children — a daughter in the Air Force and a son who is also a Philadelphia police officer in the city’s 9th District, according to news reports.
The Inquirer reports O’Connor was struck by a bullet in the shoulder above his bullet proof vest as he and other officers entered a home on the 1600 block of Bridge Street in the city’s Frankford section, the Inquirer reports.
Multiple news reports said the shooting started about 5:50 a.m. when gunfire rang out from behind a closed door.
Officers returned fire, hitting two people inside who were taken into custody along with several others, including the suspect in the 2019 killing, the Inquirer reports. There were expected to survive.
The suspect who was wanted was not wounded, according to NBC10 Philadelphia.
The wounded officer was rushed to Temple University Hospital, where he died about 6:09 a.m., NBC10 reported.
The last time a Philadelphia police officer was killed in the line of duty was March 5, 2015, when officer Robert Wilson III was killed in a shootout with two robbers inside a video game store, according to the Inquirer.
Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney ordered flags be lowered to half staff for the next 30 days in honor of the fallen officer.
Later in the morning, a procession of police vehicles with flashing lights accompanied a hearse as it left the hospital.
— This is a developing story. Please return to AJC.com for updates.
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