October 01, 2016
Philadelphia police on Saturday identified the nine officers who fired shots at a suspect on a violent rampage in West Philadelphia on Wednesday night.
In a news conference Friday, Commissioner Richard Ross said the 109 shots fired by police was "of serious concern." Ross also said that the cause could have been a case of "contagious gunfire," where police hear gunshots, think it's aimed at them and fire back.
The officers were firing at Christopher Sowell, 32, who police said choked his 12-year-old daughter, stabbed his 8-year-old son and his son's friend in their home on Hazel Avenue near 62nd Street on Wednesday. His daughter also told police that Sowell appeared to under the use of narcotics.
Sowell also ran to a neighbor's house where he slashed a 70-year-old woman in the throat and punched a 41-year-old woman in the face.
Sowell was shot and killed by police before 8 p.m. Wednesday. Police said in a news release sent out Saturday that it's not clear which officer or officers struck and killed Sowell.
Most of the police involved in the incident, listed below, have had close to a decade's worth of experience in the field.
•Anthony Britton Jr. a 17-year veteran of assigned to the 18th District
•Jeremy Olesik a 9-year-veteran assigned to the 18th District
•Michael Kane Jr. a 9-year-veteran assigned to the 18th District
•Thomas Thompson a 1-year veteran assigned to the 18th District
•Walton Scott a 2-year-veteran assigned to the 18th District
•Ronald Green a 19-year veteran assigned to the 18th District
•Adrian Hustler a 9-year veteran assigned to the 18th District
•Richard Edwards an 8-year veteran assigned to the 12th District -
•Timothy Moebius a 3-year veteran assigned to the 12th District
Ross said Friday that all the victims remain hospitalized but they're improving. The incident is also being investigated by both Internal Affairs and the District Attorney's Office. All nine officers are on administrative duty pending the investigation's outcome, police said Saturday.
