Dec. 23 (UPI) — A gunman was killed after targeting police in a shootout in the Pennsylvania’s state capital, authorities said.
Ahmed Aminamin El-Mofty, 51, first fired “several shots” at a Capitol Police car near the Capitol building around 4:10 p.m. Friday, according to Dauphin County District Attorney Ed Marsico in a release.
One shot came “very close” to hitting the officer, he told reporters at news conference Friday night.
About 30 minutes later, El-Mofty shot several times at a Pennsylvania State Police trooper, hitting her once.
The unidentified trooper is in good condition and she is expected to make a full recovery, Marsico told reporters.
He pursued the trooper to a residential neighborhood.
El-Mofty then fired multiple shots with two handguns at police. He was killed during the shootout.
“There’s no doubt he was directly targeting police officers,” Marsico said. “This could have been a really tragic incident.”
El-Mofty recently traveled to the Middle East, according to Marsico. He didn’t know specifically where.
“Obviously, we don’t want people to run wild in speculation,” he said.
Gov. Tom Wolf expressed his admiration to law enforcement.
“Grateful for the swift reaction to this incident by Capitol Police, @PAStatePolice and City of Harrisburg Police., Wold posted on Twitter. “Our officers were directly in harm’s way but they did not hesitate and protected others from harm.”
