December 23, 2017
Authorities late Friday night named the suspect in three earlier shootings that left one Pennsylvania state trooper shot and the suspect killed in Harrisburg.
At a news conference, Dauphin County District Attorney Ed Marsico also told reporters that "it certainly appears there's no doubt" that 51-year-old Ahmed Aminamin El-Mofty targeted police officers, though an investigation into the suspect's motive was still underway.
A live video of the news conference, posted to Facebook by Penn Live, shows Marsico flanked by officers from Pennsylvania State Police and Capitol Police, as well as FBI members.
El-Mofty initially opened fire on a Capitol Police officer in his cruiser in Harrisburg, striking the vehicle several times but missing the officer around 4:10 p.m. Friday at Third and Walnut streets, near the state Capitol building, police said.
About 20 to 30 minutes later, El-Mofty fired several shots at a Pennsylvania State Police trooper and struck her once. The officer is "doing well" and expected to make a full recovery, Marsico said.
The suspect then chased the trooper to Harrisburg's residential Allison Hill section and opened fire toward state and local officers with two handguns. The officers, none of whom were struck, fired back, shooting and killing El-Mofty. A device was found next to him, but Marsico said that was "of no import."
"This could've been a really tragic incident," Marsico said.
He added that El-Mofty had ties both to the Harrisburg area and the Middle East, and had recently traveled to the Middle East.
Marsico said authorities are still investigating whether the shootings were an act of terrorism, but he added, "we don't want people to run wild in speculation."
Police are asking anyone with information on El-Mofty to call 911.
