Police officer shot; suspect in custody
A rookie Philadelphia police officer who chased a suspect for more than a block after being shot in the face underwent more than five hours of surgery at the University of Pennsylvania Hospital this afternoon, police said.
A rookie Philadelphia police officer who chased a suspect for more than a block after being shot in the face underwent more than five hours of surgery at the University of Pennsylvania Hospital this afternoon, police said.
Officer Richard Decoatsworth, 21, was making a traffic stop at about 9:05 a.m. on Farson Street near Market Street in West Philadelphia when a man fired a shotgun at the officer, Commissioner Sylvester M. Johnson said.
Decoatsworth called in while giving chase, and pursued the culprit on foot to Paxon Street before he was forced to stop because of loss of blood, Johnson said. The patrolman is believed to have returned fire - seven bullets were expended from his firearm.
Police arrested Antonio Coulter, 20, whom they identified as the shooter. He was found hiding in the brush near Paxon street. Police recovered a sawed-off shotgun from the brush about 25 feet away.
Witnesses said at least three people were in the car that the officer stopped, apparently high school students. Two turned themselves in to police and Johnson said they would not be charged. The third was also questioned.
Johnson said that Decoatsworth, a 16th District patrolman who graduated from the police academy in March, was very close to the assailant and was fortunate he did not suffer more extensive damage. Johnson said Decoatsworth was also fortunate to be hit with birdshot - smaller, less deadly pellets than those contained in buckshot.
Decoatsworth underwent surgery into the afternoon, authorities said. He was shot on the left side with severe injuries to the jawbone and tongue. The injuries were not life-threatening, and his vision was not believed to be impaired.
Jeffery Dansette, 24, of Port Richmond, said he was just arriving in the area to work on a sewer project when he saw the officer get out of his patrol car and walk over to an old, beat-up blue Buick.
At that point, Dansette said, three young men wearing what appeared to be school uniforms and carrying school bags got out of the car and started walked down the street. The driver of the car, who was wearing a black hooded sweatshirt, got out and fired two shots at the officer.
The young men then ran south toward Market Street while the officer chased the shooter north, out of Dansette's views.
"After that I hear four more shots," Dansette said. "I'm not sure who fired them."
Decoatsworth's trail of blood led west onto Arch Street for two blocks and then north up the 100 block of Paxon Street, where two large splatters of blood droplets formed where the officer finally collapsed.
A police officer rushed him to the hospital in his patrol car.
Dozens of officers, including SWAT team members, sealed off several blocks of West Philadelphia and went door-to-door on the unit block of North Farson Street, which lies between 50th and 51st Streets.
Mayor Street, top commanders and dozens of other officers rushed to the hospital after the incident. A special room was set up for Decoatsworth's family, including his grandmother and his mother, Evelyn Decoatsworth, a Temple University payroll department employee.
"There was some consolation for her to see her son," said Sgt. Joe Cella, a chaplain with the Fraternal Order of Police. He said officers were optimistic of his recovery.
Johnson commended the cop for his "courageous effort" to pursue the culprit.
"This is a classic example of the problem associated with the proliferation of weapons on our streets," Street said.
