A Philadelphia police officer is dead and thanks to 'gun-crazy' politicians his killer is on the loose, DA says
Politicians who "serve the NRA's bloody agenda" have made it harder to track down perpetrators of gun violence, District Attorney Larry Krasner said.
RYAN COLLERD/AFP via Getty Images
- A Philadelphia police officer was shot dead and another injured outside the airport Thursday night.
- The officers intervened when they saw a group of people trying to break into a car, police said.
- No one has been arrested, and District Attorney Larry Krasner blamed "gun-crazy" politicians.
A Philadelphia police officer was shot dead, and the gunman is still on the loose thanks to politicians beholden to the gun lobby, District Attorney Larry Krasner charged Friday.
Late Thursday, a gunfight broke out in a parking garage by Philadelphia International Airport when, according to police, a pair of officers saw a group of people trying to break into a car. One officer was killed — a 50-year-old father — and another was injured.
No one has been arrested in connection with the killing, a spokesperson for the Philadelphia Police Department told Insider.
In a statement, Krasner, a progressive Democrat, blamed the lack of arrests on state and federal gun laws.
Although "multiple agencies" are working to identify a suspect, they are working "without the ability to quickly match ballistics on scene to a firearm that can be traced via database to point of regulated sale and owner," Krasner said, "all because gun-crazy politicians serve the NRA's bloody agenda instead of serving and protecting the public."
Before Thursday's killing, at least 38 police officers had been shot dead this year, according to the Officer Down Memorial Page, a nonprofit that tracks police deaths.
Krasner said that's due to the proliferation of firearms and a failure to regulate them. In Pennsylvania, where Republicans have opposed new gun regulations as violations of the state and federal constitutions, state law makes it illegal for a government agency "to create, maintain or operate any registry of firearm ownership."
"America has more guns than people, thanks to the same gun-crazy politicians who oppose commonsense gun regulations," Krasner said.
The local Fraternal Order of Police did not address Insider's question about whether it agrees with the district attorney's take on state gun laws. But in a statement, President John McNesby said the Philadelphia FOP was putting up a $30,000 reward "for the apprehension of those involved in this murder of a Philadelphia police hero."