PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The police officer who was shot and critically injured while in the line of duty in early April during a barricade situation in Frankford has been released from the hospital.
More than a dozen SEPTA Transit Police officers gathered outside of Temple University Hospital on Friday to salute Ervis Onuzi, their colleague with three years on the force, as he was released.
They greeted him with an ovation, cheers, and whistles of encouragement.
Onuzi, 28, did not offer any words as he solemnly stood up from the wheelchair and entered the transit police vehicle. He gave a smile to some of his colleagues as they walked by and shook his hand.
SEPTA Transit Police Chief Thomas Nestel hailed Onuzi as a hero, and said he looks forward to him recovering fully and returning to work.
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“We now have video and audio of him giving orders to the officers who were pinned down, ‘Cover on me. Cover on me,’ and he covered them as they were able to get away. He's a hero," said Nestel.
"He was the pillar of courage and valor, [and] what he did that day was truly heroic and was done to save the lives of other police officers."
Onuzi spent more than a week in the hospital after gunfire struck him in the abdomen during the April 6 incident near Leiper and Arrott streets in Frankford.
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Authorities said Zyheim Hartman, 18, shot Onuzi and three others. The other victims are expected to physically recover.
Officials initially reported that Hartman died by suicide. However, an autopsy later showed he was killed by gunfire by one of the seven officers who discharged their weapons during the standoff.
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