Updated on Feb. 12, 1 p.m.
PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A 38-year-old Philadelphia police officer is recovering from a gunshot wound after a traffic stop gone wrong Tuesday night. Police are investigating the incident, which happened just before 9 p.m.
Two highway patrol officers stopped a car at 22nd Street and Lehigh Avenue. During the traffic stop, police said, the driver fled and crashed at 23rd Street and Indiana Avenue.
The driver exited his car and shot at the officers, hitting one of them in his right hand, police said. He then fled on foot before shooting and killing himself. Police later identified the driver as 29-year-old Brandon Williams.
Police also found a bullet in the officer's ballistic jacket, but they said it did not penetrate — only missing flesh by millimeters. As the officers pursued Williams, he also shot the windshield and the hood of their patrol vehicle, according to officials.
Police have not identified the 38-year-old officer, but they said he is a 10-year veteran of the force. He was treated and released from the hospital.
"Understanding the dangers of this job, the work that these men put in each and every day, but we're grateful tonight that our officers, multiple officers, came under fire and, fortunately, they were here to be able to talk to a young man who has a 1-year-old child, and he's doing well," said Commissioner Kevin Bethel at Temple University Hospital.
In a statement, FOP Lodge 5 President Roosevelt Poplar added, "FOP Lodge 5 leadership and officers across our great city salute this officer’s courage and bravery. Please continue to keep this officer and the entire police department in your thoughts and prayers as they work tirelessly to keep us safe."
Mayor Cherelle Parker was also at the hospital to offer her her support and sympathy, and to say how much she appreciates the work that the police have done.
This has been a chaotic couple of weeks for Philadelphia police, following a plane crash in the city's Northeast, and Eagles fans' raucous celebrations before and after the Super Bowl.