A Philadelphia police officer is dead, and a second is in critical condition, after a gunman ambushed them on a porch just after midnight on Saturday, then kept shooting as he ran and hid in a tree.
The Inquirer, citing law enforcement sources, identified the alleged shooter as Eric Lewis, an employee of the Philadelphia Water Department.
Officers were called just after midnight to the 100 block of North 52nd Street for a man with a gun on a porch.
They arrived around 12:50 a.m.
As soon as they stepped onto the porch, they were hit with a hail of gunfire, according to Commissioner Kevin Bethel.
One officer, a 33-year-old father of five, was shot 12 times.
The other, a 40-year-old father of two, was shot three times.
Both were rushed to Penn Presbyterian Medical Center and taken into surgery, but one of them did not make it, according to a report from the New York Post.
The suspect fled the scene and continued firing at officers in a nearby alley. No other officers were hit.
He climbed a tree and surrendered after a SWAT unit arrived, according to Fox 29.
Officers recovered three firearms, two handguns and a shotgun.
Two polices officers were shot in West Philadelphia and were in surgery as of the time of this reporting. One was shot 3 times and one was shot 12 times. In Philadelphia, shooting a victim over and over again is done as a type of ritual. | Via @6abc https://t.co/iKlky0h0SD
— Crime In NYC (@Crime_In_NYC) October 10, 2026
A mayor’s office spokesman declined to comment on Lewis’ employment and deferred to police.
The department had not named either the officers or the suspect as of Saturday morning.
Bethel, in a statement on X, said two officers had been shot, and a suspect was in custody.
Early this morning, two of our officers were shot in West Philadelphia. Please pray for them and their families. The suspect is in custody. To our officers and their families: we are with you, every step of the way.
https://t.co/ZgRVK7D3sF
— Kevin J. Bethel (@PPDCommish) October 10, 2026
“Please pray for them and their families,” Bethel said. “To our officers and their families: we are with you, every step of the way.”
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