Officer shot his partner in scuffle with patient outside Friends Hospital, police say

By Joe Brandt

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    PHILADELPHIA (KYW) — Philadelphia police have revealed more information about two officers’ deadly struggle with a mental health patient en route to Friends’ Hospital last week.

The latest information from investigators reveals the bullet that hit a 30-year-old Philadelphia police officer in his ballistic vest was actually fired by his partner.

City leaders said the pair of officers were in a struggle with a man they were taking to Friends Hospital for a voluntary mental health commitment when the man began to struggle with them outside their transport vehicle in the hospital driveway.

The encounter ended with an officer fatally shooting the man, now identified as 36-year-old Aaron Rainey of Philadelphia.

Here’s more on what investigators claim happened leading up to and during the struggle.

What happened in Philadelphia police Friends Hospital shooting

After 12 p.m. on Thursday, March 20, an unidentified officer and partner Officer Thomas Thompson picked up Rainey on the 5000 block of Torresdale Avenue to take him to Friends Hospital for a “voluntary self-committal.”

After pulling up outside the hospital, the unidentified officer began explaining the self-committal process to Rainey, who became upset and then rushed at the officer, knocking him to the ground.

As Rainey and the officer struggled on the ground, he tried to grab the officer’s taser and then his gun. Police say this is when Thompson got involved and tried to use his Taser on Rainey, but it was ineffective.

After that, Rainey got control of the unnamed officer’s gun.

Police say Thompson shot at Rainey, striking him. Rainey fired back at Thompson but missed.

At some point during the encounter, the 30-year-old officer was hit in his ballistic vest. It’s not clear when in the encounter that shot was fired, but the department’s firearms identification unit says the bullet is believed to be from Thompson’s weapon.

Rainey was then taken to Albert Einstein Medical Center and pronounced dead at 1:07 p.m.

The officers were taken to Temple University Hospital for treatment and released.

What’s next

The officer who was hit has only been described as a 15th District police officer who has been with the department for five years. He suffered minor injuries from the impact on his vest. He also did not fire his gun during the encounter, the department said.

Thompson, 37, has been with the department for nine years. He is on administrative duty while the shooting is under investigation by the department’s Internal Affairs Bureau and a separate investigation by the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office.

The incident was captured on video cameras at Friends Hospital and the unnamed officer turned on his body-worn camera during the struggle on the ground.

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