A Temple University police officer was shot and killed Saturday night while responding to a crime near the campus, officials said.
The university’s vice president of public safety, Jennifer Griffin, said it was the first line-of-duty death in the department’s history, according to NBC Philadelphia.
According to a statement from Temple University, a shooting was reported a few blocks west of the North Philadelphia campus just after 7 p.m.
The university said the officer was shot while trying to apprehend a suspect in a convenience store robbery. According to the statement, the shooting took place several blocks away from the store.
NBC Philadelphia, citing police, reported that the officer was shot when he tried to intervene in a carjacking.
The organization said the officer was taken to Temple University Hospital, where he died.
The officer’s identity was withheld “out of respect for the officer’s friends and family,” Temple University President Jason Wingard said in a statement. statement, He said the assailant fled the area.
Wingard said, “There are no words that can make sense of this tragedy.” “It tears at our sense of community and security.”
Gov. Josh Shapiro Tweeted He and first lady Lori Shapiro were “devastated” for the family of the officer who was killed “bravely serving his community”.
“May his memory be a blessing,” Shapiro said.
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