Police officer fighting for life after being shot in neck at traffic stop in Philadelphia

A police officer was shot in the neck and was in critical condition Saturday night after a traffic stop in Philadelphia, officials said.

The 31-year-old officer was in critical condition and undergoing surgery at Temple University Hospital , Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel said during a news conference outside the hospital.

The officer and his partner stopped a car with four people inside shortly before 8pm on Saturday. The officers saw a person with a gun holster and the suspect fled before firing three times at the officers, Bethel said.

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The wounded officer's partner returned fire. The shooting suspect and all the people who were in the car are in custody and are considered "persons of interest" at this time, Bethel said.

"Today I sat in the auditorium with about 75 to 100 men from the East Division and we held hands as Commissioner Stanford brought us together. And we prayed for our officer," Bethel said. "And so today I ask the people across the city of Philadelphia to pray for our officer and pray for the men and women who are here today or are out in the field knowing they are going to give their lives for this job."

Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker asked residents to pray for the officer . She said: "He didn't expect that he would be in a fight for his life."

At the press conference, Mayor Cherelle Parker gave her remarks as well. "We need to pray for this Philadelphian serving, protecting the people of our city, doing a noble job under very tough circumstances," Parker said.

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"His partner, I want us to pray for him as well because he was an act of courage by making sure that our noble law enforcement officer made it here so that the men and women right now and the best medical professionals available here at Temple University are doing the best they can to provide the best medical services possible."

Yoleiky Castro, a neighbor who lives close to the scene of the incident, told NBC10 that she and her siblings heard three gunshots while they were walking to the corner store.

"It was awful, it was really awful," Castro said. "It was crazy. It was like 30 cars."

Then they noticed the police chopper flying overhead, she added. Just before 10:00 p.m. officers could be seen escorting a handcuffed individual into a van. Whether this was a person of interest in the shooting is unknown at this time.