A Pennsylvania state trooper who survived a deadly ambush outside his Poconos-area barracks will witness President Barack Obama's final State of the Union address next week.
U.S. Senator Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) invited Trooper Alex Douglass to be his guest at the State of the Union address in Washington, D.C. Tuesday night. [[364646731, C]]
"His bravery is an inspiration," said the first-term senator. "Trooper Douglass epitomizes the courage and self-sacrifice our law enforcement officers show every day, as they put themselves in harm’s way to protect us."
Douglass called Toomey's invite to U.S. Capitol "an honor."
"It is a one in a lifetime opportunity," said Douglass. "This is just another fine example of the community coming together after the tragic Blooming Grove incident. I feel privileged to represent the Pennsylvania State Police and all other law enforcement agencies in the country."
A sniper ambushed Douglass, a 10-year veteran of Pennsylvania State Police, and Cpl. Bryon Dickson outside the Blooming Grove barracks in September 2014. Dickson died, while Douglass suffered serious injuries that have required surgery including a hip replacement.
Eric Frein, who was captured in an abandoned airport hangar after a seven-week manhunt in the Poconos, is in Pike County Prison awaiting trial in connection with the shooting. [[281109012, C]]
Douglass hasn't let his injuries hold him back, having completed the New York City Marathon this past fall. He continues physical therapy as he works toward returning to active duty.
“Shots fired, 60th and Spruce, I’m shot, I’m bleeding heavily.”
Those were the words Philadelphia Police Officer Jesse Hartnett shouted moments after a gunman claiming he was performing on behalf of Islam around one dozen shots at the officer with a stolen police gun as he drove his patrol car through a West Philadelphia intersection late Thursday night.
“All cars standby we have an officer shot at 6-0 and Spruce,” the police dispatcher calmly says on police radio traffic obtained by NBC10 -- the officer is heard around 10:28. (WARNING: The audio contains profanity)
Moments later, Officer Hartnett can be saying again, “I’m bleeding.”
Video obtained by NBC10 shows the suspect -- later identified as Edward Archer -- firing the shots then running from the scene as Officer Hartnett jumps out of his patrol car and fires at the fleeing gunman.
The 18th District officer who previously worked in Delaware County then says “look behind your back (profanity)” in a comment apparently directed toward the suspect.
Officer Hartnett continues to talk to dispatchers, breathing heavily – at times unintelligible – as he tries to direct police toward the scene.
Police are then directed toward nearby streets where they nabbed the suspected gunman -- wounded in the buttocks -- a short time later. An officer can be heard saying a gun was recovered a block away on Delancey Street.
“This is absolutely one of the scariest things I’ve ever seen,” said Philadelphia Police Commissioner Richard Ross after the shooting. “This guy tried to execute the police officer.”
Minutes of radio traffic then involves police trying to find out the condition of the officer and the suspect, who was hit by return gunfire.
Hartnett, a five-year veteran of the police force who previously served in the Coast Guard, spoke to police as they rushed him to Penn Presbyterian Hospital where he was treated for three gunshot wounds to his left arm that left him with a broken arm and nerve damage.
“I love him, I’m very proud of him and he’s an excellent person,” said the officer’s father Robert Hartnett after visiting with his son.
Police said Archer, 30, confessed to the shooting and said he did it in the name of Islam. The gun he used -- a 9mm Glock 17 -- was stolen from Philadelphia Police in 2013.
The Powerball jackpot is $900 million and counting and if you haven’t bought a ticket yet, state lotteries across the country are happy to give you a nudge.
“Give Your Dreams a Chance,” New Jersey urges. “Anything’s Possible,” Illinois promises.
Then there is this slogan, not as catchy but almost as true: “Your chances of winning the lottery are equal whether you buy a ticket or not.”
That last is from a member of Gamblers Anonymous — who in keeping with the group’s policy is not identified — and it is what he remembers as the country gets caught up in lottery fever.
“Whether you have a gambling problem or not, it’s pretty tempting,” he said. "It’s pretty exciting. I don’t think there’s anybody who wouldn’t want to have that kind of money.”
Legalized gambling is now widespread across the United States, with some form available everywhere but Hawaii and Utah, according to the National Council on Problem Gambling, which is based in Washington, D.C.
As states sponsor lotteries as a source of revenue, out-of-control gamblers struggle. Six million American adults, or about 2 percent of the population, are considered problem gamblers, according to figures available from the National Council on Problem Gambling.
Keith Whyte, the council’s executive director, said record prizes like Powerball can be a problem both for gamblers chasing the big prize that will solve all of their problems and recovering gamblers who stopped five, 10 or 20 years ago and who report that the publicity can be overwhelming.
“Now you’re just bombarded with this relentless surge of advertising and many problem gamblers feel like they’re only one bet away from winning everything back,” he said.
Dr. Timothy Fong, an addiction expert in Los Angeles, said that the widespread hoopla surrounding Powerball might not trigger symptoms for those solidly in recovery. But for others, it may start them thinking again about gambling, about money as a way to escape from their problems, he said.
“It’s not as intense as say someone with alcohol (addiction) being plopped down inside a bar or someone with heroin (addiction) being shown needles or drugs, but it’s still a consideration," said Fong, the co-director of the Gambling Studies Program at the University of California, Los Angeles, and director of the UCLA Impulse Control Disorders Clinic.
Most of the publicity around Powerball does not include any warning about the dangers, he said. Nor is Powerball marketed as gambling by the states, he said.
Instead the mottos are seductive messages promising positive changes to your life, he said.
Surveys show that most Americans do not view this form of lottery as gambling, unlike for instance scratch-off cards, Fong said. But in California, the lottery is the fourth form of gambling named by patients in treatment programs, behind slot machines, black jack and sports betting.
“The lottery isn’t portrayed as gambling by ads. It’s not covered as gambling by news outlets and so it’s not seen as the same as poker or blackjack, sports betting,” Fong said. “But really it is."
The spokesman for Gamblers Anonymous said its members get repeated encouragement to stay away from lotteries and all other forms of gambling. Today, lotteries are much more socially acceptable, he said.
“It’s a great source of conversation among people who may or may not play the lottery," he said.
How to Get Help
Not all problem gamblers need treatment, Fong said. But for those who do, there are scientifically based methods that work, whether medication, psychotherapy or group treatment, he said. Treatment requires more than just will power, he said. It can take specialists to identify distorted thinking about gambling, whether believing that you are due for win or will not lose on your birthday.
Because gambling addiction is a chronic, relapsing disease, for most people in recovery, it is probably not a good idea for them ever to gamble again, he said. But because that position has been challenged, Fong tells his patients that his goal is that they never again have problems caused by gambling.
“Each person is different,” he said. “My goal is always getting people to continue to stay involved in treatment and continue to look at these issues rather than to be very forceful one way or another."
And Fong even admitted to having a Powerball ticket in his pocket, to having spent a few dollars on the dream.
“Even for a gambling addiction treatment specialist like myself,” he said.
If you think you may have a gambling problem, you can call the National Council on Problem Gambling's help line at 1-800-522-4700
A man was critically hurt after being shot while sitting inside a car in Kensington Friday afternoon, police said.
The shooting happened on the 700 block of Madison Street around 4:30 p.m. The victim was hit in the back by the gunfire, police said.
The suspect fled the scene in a Nissan Altima and bailed out of the car on Allegheny Avenue. Police gave chase on foot and apprehended them near F and Williard streets, officials said.
The victim was taken to a nearby hospital and was last listed in critical condition, police said.
A motive was not immediately known.
Homicide detectives are investigating after a person was shot to death in North Philadelphia Friday evening.
The shooting happened around 5 p.m. near 23rd and Norris streets, police said.
The victim was found dead at the scene when police arrived, according to police.
Police have not released the identity of the victim and did not have a description of the suspect or a motive.
A mother who went back into a burning Philadelphia home to rescue her young child died in the fire, along with the toddler.
The mother, identified as Elizabeth Perez, was pregnant, family members told NBC10.
The fire started about 3:45 a.m. Friday inside a home in the 2800 block of N. 4th Street near Cambria Street.
Philadelphia Acting Fire Commissioner Derrick Sawyer said a family member initially tried to fight the fire alone.
“Because they were trying to fight the fire, it delayed everyone getting out,” Sawyer explained.
Sawyer said Perez was able to initially escape the fire, but went back inside the home in an attempt to save her 2-year-old son Nathaniel Richardson.
After knocking down the fire, Sawyer said firefighters found Perez with her son in her arms near the doorway of a bedroom.
“It’s not a pretty sight … her holding her child in her arms trying to get back out,” Sawyer said, adding that the heavy smoke and flames prevented the two from getting back out.
Sawyer also said four children and two adults were taken to a nearby hospital. Their conditions were not known.
Firefighters found at least five portable space heaters inside the home, Sawyer said. One kerosene heater may be to blame for igniting a blanket that then caused the fire to spread, according to officials.
Firefighters did not initially locate any smoke alarms inside the home, Sawyer said.
"We've been on this block to install smoke alarms," he noted.
Firefighters will be back on the block Friday afternoon to install smoke alarms. The American Red Cross Eastern Pennsylvania said it would provide mental health and spiritual care counselors for neighbors and family.
No firefighters were injured.
Friday’s deaths are the city’s first fire fatalities in 2016. Sawyer said no children were killed during fires in 2015.
The confessed shooter of a Philadelphia police officer who investigators say used a stolen officer's gun and carried out his "attempted assassination" in the name of Islam traveled to the Middle East and has a history of making threats with guns.
Edward Archer, 30, of Yeadon, Delaware County, opened fire on Officer Jesse Hartnett, 33, as he drove through the intersection of 60th and Spruce streets in West Philadelphia late Thursday night.
Firing about a dozen shots, Archer moved toward the cruiser as he targeted Hartnett, surveillance video shows. Hartnett was hit three times in the arm, but was able to return fire, hitting Archer, police said.
Archer, who was treated and released for his injuries, told investigators he carried out the shooting on behalf of Islam and did not implicate anyone else, police said.
"He certainly was targeting police," Philadelphia Police Commissioner Richard Ross said Friday. “He was trying to assassinate this officer."
Homicide Capt. James Clark echoed Ross’ sentiments, calling the shooting an "attempted assassination."
"He pledged his allegiance to the Islamic State — he follows Allah — and that is why he was called on to do this," Clark said Friday.
Following his confession, local and federal investigators probed Archer's travel history to Saudi Arabia and Egypt. Archer's grandfather, Ronald Archer, told NBC10 his grandson went to Mecca for Pilgrimage in the past couple years.
Archer flew from Newark, New Jersey to Saudi Arabia in October 2011, an FBI spokesperson confirmed. He returned a month later. In February 2012, he left for Egypt from New York and stayed abroad for 10 months before coming home. Officials have not found any indication illegal activity took place during the trips.
When he stepped back on American soil in December 2012, Archer was arrested for an outstanding warrant on an aggravated assault charge, his former attorney, Doug Dolfman, said.
In that incident, Archer allegedly threatened a man with a semi-automatic handgun as he chased him down a West Philadelphia street, records show.
"He was very impulsive, he was very paranoid, he was someone who was always looking over his shoulder even when I was involved in an interview with him, he wasn't actually sure what was going on," Dolfman told NBC10 Friday. He represented Archer for three weeks after being hired by the man's mother.
The 2012 incident wasn't Archer's only run-in with the law. He was set to be sentenced on fraud charges in Delaware County on Monday, said court records. He pleaded guilty last year to a simple assault and firearm charge and was immediately paroled due to time served.
Dolfman said Archer had a propensity for weapons based on his history. Police are looking to find out how Archer got his hands on the gun used in Thursday's ambush.
The 9 mm Glock 17 handgun was taken from a Philadelphia police officer’s home in October 2013. Ross said that officer properly reported the theft and was reprimanded according to department policy.
"We don't know ... how many hands it passed through in the past few years, I have no way of knowing," said Ross. "That is one of the things that you absolutely regret the most, when an officer’s gun is stolen and it’s used against one of your own."
Dolfman believes Archer "wanted to make some mark" by targeting a police officer. But he doubts Archer, a Muslim, was radicalized to act on behalf of the Islamic State.
"I think he's trying to bolster his image and trying to do this for himself and not for Islam or for ISIS or any other radical group," he said. "This is a lone wolf trying to make a name for himself."
Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney complimented the police department on its swift investigation and said he hoped the shooter’s actions wouldn’t be taken as a larger example of Islam.
"This is a criminal with a stolen gun who tried to kill one of our officers; it has nothing to do with being a Muslim," said Kenney.
"Our community agrees with Mayor Kenney that the senseless shooting of Officer Jesse Hartnett cannot be justified by any religion," said a statement from the Al Aqsa Islamic Society mosque in North Philly. "We are united with our fellow Philadelphians and decry this and all senseless violence and urge that we do more to prevent the proliferation of guns on our streets."
The mosque is the same one where a pig's head was left last month.
"Our Mosque and community join with the rest of our City in praying for the speedy recovery of Officer Hartnett."
Friday afternoon, federal investigators searched the suspect's Delaware County home, as well as a Philadelphia home — just blocks from the scene — where he may have also stayed, in hopes of digging up more clues. Investigators could be seen taking bags of evidence from the scene Friday afternoon.
The elder Archer said the whole thing was "a damn shame" that left him "puzzled."
