48.5 TO 97 IN SLAMMER
AMBUSH SHOOTER OF DELCO NATIVE, PHILLY COP GETS LONG JAIL SENTENCE
In this Jan. 7, 2016, image made from a video provided by the Philadelphia Police Department, a gunman runs toward a police car driven by Philadelphia police officer Jesse Hartnett in Philadelphia.
PHILADELPHIA » A 33-yearold Yeadon man was sentenced to 48½ to 97 years in state prison Monday for the January 2016 ambush and shooting of Police Officer Jesse Hartnett in his patrol car.
Edward Archer was convicted in February on attempted murder, aggravated assault and weapons charges for the Jan. 6 shooting following a jury trial before Philadelphia Common Pleas Court Judge Leon W. Tucker.
Assistant District Attorney Jan McDermott told jurors that Archer was “lying in wait” with an illegal handgun before firing 13 shots at the officer in his marked police cruiser at 60th and Spruce streets at about 11:40 p.m.
Archer fired 13 bullets, three of which shattered bones and damaged nerves in Hartnett’s arm. Hartnett, a Monsignor Bonner graduate and former East Lansdowne resident, described the ordeal at trial, saying he had a split-second to react as Archer ran up to his vehicle.
“As I see him running at me, everything told me to take cover,” said Hartnett.
Hartnett described putting his left arm up to shield his head as Archer ran up to the car, put his arm through the shattered window and continued firing.
The incident was captured on surveillance video, which was played for the jury.
Hartnett was able to exit his vehicle and pursue his attacker, drawing his weapon with his working right arm. He got off three shots, wounding his attacker in the buttocks, before returning to the trunk of his police cruiser for a tourniquet. Hartnett spent two weeks in the hospital and required multiple surgeries, as well as physical therapy.
“I’m trying my absolute best to get back something that was taken away from me,” Hartnett said outside the Philadelphia courthouse in February. “I don’t think I’ll ever be 100 percent, but hopefully someday I’ll get close to that.”
Archer was taken into custody about a block from the shooting by responding officers. He later told detectives that he believes police enforce laws that undermine the Quran’s teachings.
Homicide Capt. James Clark previously quoted Archer as saying, “I follow Allah. I pledge my allegiance to the Islamic State, and that’s why I did what I did.”
Authorities have said there is no indication Archer coordinated his attack with a terrorist organization and he was not charged with a terrorismrelated offense.
Hartnett said after the conviction that he intended to return to his job as soon as possible.
“Even though I’ve been shot, I don’t dwell (on it) any minute,” he said. “This is the profession I chose and it’s the profession that I love.”