Two Philadelphia-area police officers were shot Monday evening while providing security for a July 4th concert, city officials said.
A 36-year-old Philadelphia Highway Patrol officer was grazed by a bullet on his forehead, and a 44-year-old officer from the Montgomery County Sheriff’s office was shot in the shoulder during a concert on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway.
It was unclear where the bullets came from or who shot them. Both men have been discharged from the hospital.
The incidents occurred just hours after a 22-year-old man allegedly used a “high-powered rifle” to shoot July 4th parade attendees in a town just outside of Chicago. Six people were killed and dozens more were injured.
Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney, a Democrat, ridiculed U.S. firearm laws and a recent Supreme Court decision that expands gun rights by ruling Americans have the ability under the Second Amendment to carry in public.
Mr. Kenney, who spoke with reporters late Monday night outside the hospital where the officers were being treated, said he’s looking forward to the day that he is no longer mayor and won’t have to worry about such violent events occurring on his watch.
“We live in America, and we have the Second Amendment, and we have the Supreme Court of the United States telling everybody they can carry a gun wherever they want,” he said.
• Ramsey Touchberry can be reached at rtouchberry@washingtontimes.com.
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