A 26-year-old officer from the Philadelphia police department is in critical condition following a shooting that occurred as he responded to a brawl outside Overbrook High School.
Philadelphia Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel expressed strong disapproval of the situation, describing it as a perilous instance of adults making poor choices that endanger lives.
During a press briefing on Wednesday night, Bethel was candid in his remarks about the 30-year-old man who has been arrested for allegedly bringing a firearm to a student altercation and discharging it.
“There’s been fights at the school that happened since I was a kid,” Bethel said. “But what I never would do was call an adult to my fight. And then when you are an adult, you’re a d— adult. And you’re supposed to know that.”
A rookie police officer was shot in Philadelphia on Wednesday. He was breaking up a fight near a high school. (FOX 29 Philadelphia)
“We constantly are encouraging parents, it can’t just be us. Can’t be just [Superintendent] Dr. B. Watlington and the school district,” said Bethel. “Parents are engaged in this process. But when a 30-year-old man comes to a fight with children, what the h— are they gonna do?”
“And then you bring a gun. So you’re a coward anyway. You’re gonna come to the fight, come to fight. But you bring a gun and then you fire the weapon. Anyone could have been injured. Unfortunately, my officer is the one who was injured in this case.”
No other injuries were reported.
As for the adult suspect, Commissioner Bethel said: “You’re supposed to be the one who has to come in there to de-escalate, not escalate.”
