Pennsylvania Police Office Killed Pursuing Hit-And-Run Driver

A police officer was killed on Thursday when he was shot in the head while pursuing a hit-and-run driver in a Philidelphia suburb. The police officer was killed a day before his 35th birthday.

NBC News reports that the Iraq war veteran, Brad Fox, is the first police officer in Plymoth Township, PA to be killed in the line of duty.

Authorities say that Fox was shot in the head and killed during the pursuit of the hit-and-run driver.

“There are just no words that can begin to express the magnitude of this tragedy, ” said Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman at a press conference on Thursday.

“I think we’re all in shock. This is the very first time that the Plymouth Township Police Department has had to deal with an officer killed in the line of duty,” said Ferman.

According to authorities, Fox is survived by his wife, young daughter, and his unborn child.

“Officer Fox served two tours of duty in Iraq. He put his life on the line day in and day out. Men around him lost their lives. He was able to come back from that service, come back to the comfort of his country and to lose his life so senselessly today. There are just no words to explain how horrific it is, how senseless it is,” Ferman said.

Chief Joseph Lawrence said Fox, who had just graduated from the Philidelphia K-9 school, had been with the Plymouth Township police department for seven years. Lawrence now calls the fallen police officer a “hero”.

Fox’s fellow officers gathered outside the emergency room on Thursday night as his body was transported to the Medical Examiners Office.

Authorities have stated that the gunman, who shot Fox, was also shot and killed.

“There is no gunman out on the street. There is no imminent danger to anyone out there,” Ferman said.

Further investigations are underway to find out the exact circumstances leading up to the shooting.