Credit: PSP
A Pennsylvania State Police trooper from Fairless Hills was released 26 hours after he was shot during a gun battle with a teenager on one of Philadelphia’s busiest highways.
“Let’s go Eagles! I’m feeling much better. I’m feeling very good,” Trooper Patrick R. Casey, 31, of Fairless Hills, told reporters as he walked out of Hahnemann University Hospital late Wednesday morning.
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Capt. James K. Raykovitz, commanding officer of the state police barracks in Philadelphia, told reporters Casey will eventually have to get the single bullet removed from his left shoulder. He said the projectile missed Casey’s bone and stayed in his flesh.
Early Wednesday, law enforcement officials charged 17-year-old teen Giovanni Cotto with attempted murder, aggravated assault, assault of a law enforcement officer, simple assault, fleeing and attempting to elude police and related offenses. He was held in a city prison as of Wednesday morning on $3 million bail.
Cotto, according to state police, fled from troopers during a a traffic stop in the University City section of Philadelphia and ended up crashing into a school bus on the Vine Street Expressway (I-676) in Center City a few minutes later. Around the time he crashed his vehicle, Cotto allegedly exchanged gunfire with Casey, a trooper since 2009.
Credit: NBC10/Twitter
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Casey returned fired from inside the vehicle and two other troopers fired at the 17-year-old, who was not struck by gunfire, Raykovitz said.
The school bus, which was only occupied by a driver, and Cotto’s car burst into flames and added more chaos to the shooting scene around 9:45 a.m. Tuesday. Officers from the Philadelphia Police Department and state police screamed onto the highway and to the shooting scene, rushing Casey to nearby Hahnemann University Hospital for treatment.
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Cotto was taken into custody as he tried to run away from the shooting scene, state police said.
Authorities said Cotto jumped in the driver’s seat and sped off from the traffic stop after the occupants of the vehicle were removed. Troopers, including Casey, who was called to assist, pursued the car before the shooting. Several of the occupants were questioned and were not charged by state police.
Credit: Twitter
A number of bullet holes marked the front windshield of Casey’s patrol car, where state police stated he was seated when the striking bullet hit him.
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Casey spoke with Gov. Tom Wolf while in the hospital on Tuesday and was visited by Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter.
“What happened today to Trooper Casey is just one more reminder of all the things the good people in the state police do for all of us in Pennsylvania to keep us safe. So let us remember them this Thanksgiving,” Wolf said in a video statement Tuesday night.
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Wounded State Trooper Patrick Casey released from hospital. Says, “Go Eagles”. pic.twitter.com/a2jNcVA02r
— sarahbloomquist (@sarahbloomquist) November 25, 2015
