PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — After more than two weeks in the hospital, the Philadelphia police officer who was shot in the stomach while breaking up a fight outside Overbrook High School was able to go home Thursday afternoon.
It was an emotional scene as the 26-year-old officer left Penn Presbyterian Hospital just after 4 p.m., able to stand and walk to the car taking him home. He teared up as dozens of officers crowded around him taking the symbolic seat in the car, the first steps on a long road to recovery.
Philadelphia Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel was on hand for the emotional release, and said he was overjoyed at the scene.
“To be received by your men and women here for applauding you and letting you know that you’re loved and your value and you're cared about,” said Bethel. “We're going to hold him, we’re going to carry him through this process and he'll do well.”
Bethel also applauded FOP President Roosevelt Poplar for making sure an officer was at the hospital every morning to be with him.
“This is a team effort. It's a collaboration from the team behind me, all the men and women here,” he said. “We don't do this stuff by ourselves, and so I'm going home today and I'm a happy, happy, happy man.”
It was just before 2:45 p.m. on May 7 when the officer responded to fights outside of Overbrook High School. As he was attempting to break up a brawl, he was shot in the stomach, according to officials.
Police say 30-year-old Dachan Seay fired a gun towards the ground during the fray, and the bullet ricocheted and hit the officer. Seay was arrested and has been charged with aggravated assault, reckless endangerment, and weapons offenses.