The investigation into the ambush attack on Officer Jesse Hartnett has now expanded into the suburbs. NBC10’s Deanna Durante shows us how other police departments are now taking precautions.
A confessed gunman who ambushed a Philadelphia Police officer might have been part of a small group of urban terrorists and has investigators searching not only in the Philadelphia neighborhood where the shooting occurred but nearby Delaware County as well.
Terror investigators worked into Tuesday to find three other men in connection with Edward Archer, a self-proclaimed jihadist who shot a Philadelphia police officer "in the name of Islam," NBC News reported.
That investigation included Chester in nearby Delaware County where one of the other men may be from, sources with knowledge of the investigation told NBC10’s Deanna Durante.
Sources said the other men hadn't appeared to have committed any crimes as of yet.
Federal and Philadelphia area investigators also interviewed Archer’s family, which lives in Delaware County, and searched for other clues after a woman came forward over the weekend to report that Archer has ties with a trio of men with similar intentions. NBC News reported that investigators have learned the names of two of the other men. [[364795361, C]]
Archer faces attempted murder charges for Thursday’s night’s caught-on-camera attempted assassination of Philly Police Officer Jesse Hartnett. The shooting left Hartnett hospitalized with serious injuries to his left arm.
"His arm was hanging by a string and he got out there, did what his training said, and he was in an ultimate battle with an urban terrorist, and he came out on top," Philadelphia Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 5 President John McNesby told NBC10.
Investigators want to find out how Archer, 30, managed to make trips to Egypt and Saudi Arabia in 2011 and 2012 despite being unemployed and previously not holding a passport.
As the investigation into the shooting and search for other possible jihadists continued, police in the region remained on edge.
Some municipalities in Delaware County began doubling up patrols after Philadelphia Police made a similar move in the wake of the shooting. Haverford Township stressed a policy of officers sticking together and only responding with a second officer present and Upper Darby Township continued with its policy of always having backup before responding to a scene.
