Cpl. James O Connor Wiki – Biography
Cpl. James O Connor was shot around 5:45 a.m. in the city’s Frankford section, officials said. He was shot in the shoulder above his bulletproof vest when officers entered the home, and two people in the home were wounded by return fire from another officer, officials said.
A Philadelphia police officer was shot and killed early Friday as he served a homicide warrant at a home.The two wounded people were stable, authorities said. Authorities said their injuries did not appear to be life-threatening. Their names were not released.
Several people were arrested including the subject of the warrant, Hassan Elliott, a fugitive wanted in a robbery and slaying last year not far from the scene, District Attorney Larry Krasner’s office said. Elliott was not among those injured, Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said.
Krasner’s spokeswoman, Jane Roh, said more than one person inside the house had a gun. More charges were expected Friday as investigators determine “which bullet came from which person,” she said.
“Elliott is currently in custody. We expect to bring charges for the March 2019 murder and additional charges following today’s incident shortly,” Krasner said in a statement.
“There’s not a word that you can put on the level of emotion that’s being felt right now,” Outlaw said during a news conference outside the hospital. “As expected, it’s a whirlwind of emotions. These are people that leave their families, their loved ones, during holidays, birthdays, anniversaries, to protect complete strangers and to do work that’s a calling. These people are led to serve.”
Cpl. James O Connor Age
Cpl. James O Connor was 46 years old.
Family
Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said he was a married father of two, with a son who is an officer in the Ninth District and a daughter who is in the Air Force.
Cause of Death
O’Connor was shot in the shoulder above his bulletproof vest about 5:50 a.m. on the 1600 block of Bridge Street when officers entered the building and bullets blasted through a closed door, Outlaw said.. Two people behind the door were wounded by return fire and are expected to survive. The person sought in the warrant for a 2019 homicide was taken into custody.
O’Connor was taken to Temple University Hospital after the shooting. A large contingent of officers converged on the medical center immediately afterward, soon joined by Outlaw and by Mayor Jim Kenney.
District Attorney Larry Krasner also arrived, spoke to Outlaw in the parking lot, and left. Then Outlaw and Kenney, joined by John McNesby, president of Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 5, spoke to the gathered news media.
“We just want everybody to know it’s a very sad day, not just for officers here, but it’s a very sad day for the family who is here and who is mourning and is still trying to stomach all this,” Outlaw said.
Added a somber Kenney: “I would just ask everyone to keep this family in their prayers and keep all of our officers and their families in their prayers. It’s a tough job and they do their best for us every day. This is a bad day.”
“There’s not a word that you can put on the level of emotion that’s being felt right now,” said Outlaw, in her second month as the city’s top cop. “As expected, it’s a whirlwind of emotions. These are people that leave their families, their loved ones, during holidays, birthdays, anniversaries, to protect complete strangers and to do work that’s a calling. These people are led to serve.”
Tribute
Kenney ordered all City of Philadelphia flags to be flown at half-staff for 30 days in O’Connor’s memory.
A police honor guard later escorted O’Connor’s body from the hospital.
Outside O’Connor’s red-brick rowhouse on a tidy and quiet Northeast Philadelphia street, well-wishers and mourners streamed into the family home on an overcast Friday morning. A police vehicle blocked access to one street leading to the home while three police officers stood at the exit of the corporal’s one-way street, blocking pedestrian access.
O’Connor is the first Philadelphia Police officer fatally wounded in the line of duty since March 5, 2015, when Officer Robert Wilson III was killed in gun battle with a pair of robbers inside a North Philadelphia video game store.
It was also the third shooting in 18 months in which police officers in the city were harmed while serving warrants.
Joe Sullivan, who stepped down recently as deputy commissioner for homeland security and had overseen SWAT operations over the years, said he met O’Connor about 15 years ago.
“In SWAT, it’s not about rank, it’s about knowledge and experience and he had both,” Sullivan said. “He always told it to me straight and I always followed his advice.”
He credited O’Connor with resolving many situations without incident.
“SWAT is years of experience and that’s what makes you SWAT,” Sullivan said. “He died leading his operators [men],” he said, calling O’Connor’s death “an incredible loss to the city, the department and his unit.
Sullivan said O’Connor was the sort of person who organized banquets and barbecues, remembered people’s birthdays, and let you know how much he loved his family.
Investigation Report
The case is under investigation.