A man accused of attacking an undercover Philadelphia police sergeant remains on the loose after investigators determined the wounded man they arrested was not the suspect involved in the attack.
The ordeal began Tuesday at 7:32 p.m. while a 57-year-old sergeant in plainclothes was sitting in an unmarked car on North Park and West Hunting Park avenues. She was conducting an undercover investigation, police said.
While the sergeant sat in the car, an unidentified man suddenly approached the vehicle and threw a large rock or brick at the driver’s side window, police said. The man then allegedly attacked the sergeant and dragged her out of the vehicle. As the man continued to attack her, the 23-year veteran of the force pulled out her weapon and opened fire, police said.
"I was sitting up and then I jumped up," Shaneeza Seales of Hunting Park told NBC10.
The man appeared to be shot at least once and fled on foot northbound on Park Avenue.
The attack left the officer shaken with cuts and glass in her hair, police sources said. She was treated for contusions and abrasions.
Investigators originally believed that a man who had been shot in the chest and later captured at 13th Street and Lehigh Avenue was the attacker. But, on Wednesday afternoon police confirmed that man, who is alleged to have earlier broken into a home, isn't believed to be the one who attacked the sergeant.
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"I heard that there was somebody trying to get into the house next door from me and I'm like, 'Oh wow, that's crazy' because my kids were at the house at the time."
Authorities said a motive for the attack on the officer remains under investigation. They didn't reveal a description of the suspect.
The man caught after the home invasion remained in custody Wednesday afternoon. Police said they are still figuring out charges related to the home invasion and who may have shot him.
