Man shot by police in alleged screwdriver attack charged with aggravated assault

A man shot by a Philadelphia police officer after he allegedly attacked another officer with a screwdriver has been charged with aggravated assault and other crimes, the district attorney’s office announced Thursday.

The office identified the man as Dondrick Massey-Burch, 23.

Police said that a man came into Nicetown’s 39th District headquarters Wednesday morning and tried to speak with an officer sitting behind an operations room window. The officers opened a side entrance door to hear him, when the man “pushes the officer and is lunging into the operations room, armed with a screwdriver,” Sgt. Eric Gripp, a police spokesperson, told The Inquirer Wednesday.

» READ MORE: Philadelphia police shot a man after he allegedly attacked an officer at 39th District headquarters in North Philly

Two officers tried to disarm the man and another officer shot at him, hitting him in the chest, Gripp said. He was listed in critical condition at Temple University Hospital on Wednesday, and was in stable condition on Thursday, the DA’s office said. Police and the DA’s office are still investigating the police shooting.

Massey-Burch, in addition to the aggravated assault charge, is also facing charges of possession of an instrument of crime, simple assault, and reckless endangerment.

In a statement, DA spokesperson Jane Roh said that the office is “grateful and relieved” that an officer treated for a scraped head and knee pain, “who was apparently responding to the defendant’s request for help,” has been released from the hospital.

Staff writers Rodrigo Torrejón and Ellie Rushing contributed to this report.