Police said three officers were wounded and a 57-year-old retired firefighter was killed after gunfire erupted in Wynnefield.
PHILADELPHIA, PA — Newly obtained surveillance video shows the tense moments before three Philadelphia police officers were shot late Saturday in Wynnefield, where a 57-year-old man opened fire during an attempted arrest, police said.
The shooting has drawn close review because it began as officers answered a separate report of gunfire near North 54th and Arlington streets, then quickly turned into a confrontation with a man police said was not part of the original call. The officers survived and were listed in stable condition Sunday. The man, identified by his family’s attorney as Eric Franks, died after officers returned fire.
Philadelphia Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel said officers were called to the area around 10:33 p.m. Saturday after a report that a vehicle had been hit by gunfire. When officers arrived, Franks approached them on the block, Bethel said. Police said officers told him several times to stand down before they tried to take him into custody at about 10:46 p.m. “These men and women give their lives for this work,” Bethel said after the shooting, standing outside Penn Presbyterian Medical Center with Mayor Cherelle L. Parker.
The video shows an argument in the street before the arrest attempt. A man can be seen near officers as another person appears to try to hold him back. The encounter escalates when the man moves toward a sergeant, then breaks away as officers try to detain him. Police said Franks pulled a gun from his waistband and fired at four officers. The officers fired back. Three officers were hit: one in the face, one in the hip or leg area, and another in the leg, according to early accounts from city officials. Their names were not released Sunday.
Franks was shot at the scene and later died at a hospital, police said. His family’s attorney, James Funt, said Franks was a retired Philadelphia firefighter and operated an event space on the block where the shooting happened. Funt said a birthday party had recently ended and that Franks had gone to the area after hearing there had been gunfire nearby. Funt said the family wants all video preserved and a full investigation before conclusions are reached. “That is not at all the case, but we have to wait and see,” Funt said, responding to any suggestion that Franks had planned the encounter.
City payroll records cited in local reports show Franks retired from the Philadelphia Fire Department in September 2025 after nearly 20 years of service. His family described him as a husband, father and community figure. Police have not said why he was armed or why the exchange with officers became violent. Bethel said investigators would review whether the confrontation was planned or whether something else led Franks to enter the police scene. The original shooting call that brought officers to the block also remained under review Sunday.
The officers were taken to Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, a major trauma hospital that often receives wounded officers and shooting victims from West Philadelphia. Parker said early Sunday that the officers were stable and credited their survival to fast medical care and the response of other officers. She said the officers were husbands, fathers, sons and brothers who nearly did not make it home. City Council Majority Leader Katherine Gilmore Richardson, who said the shooting happened near her home, said she visited the hospital and thanked first responders for acting quickly.
The shooting will be reviewed through Philadelphia’s officer-involved shooting process. That normally includes police investigators, Internal Affairs and the city’s Citizens Police Oversight Commission. Investigators are expected to examine surveillance video, body-camera footage, police radio traffic, shell casings, the gun recovered from the scene and witness statements from people on the block. Officers from the crime scene unit were still working in the area Sunday, where rowhouses, parked cars and small businesses line the street. No charges were expected against Franks because he died.
The block remained an active scene into Sunday as investigators searched for evidence and spoke with residents. Local reports described fired shell casings being recovered, including some from a sewer drain. Across the street, relatives gathered near the family’s event space, while police continued to guard parts of the area. The new video is now a key record of the short time between the first police response and the gunfire that followed. It does not answer every question, including what Franks said to officers, what officers knew about him at the time and whether all available camera footage has been collected.
As of Sunday afternoon, the three officers were expected to recover, Franks was dead and the investigation was still open. Police said more details would be released after investigators review the video, interview witnesses and complete the first reports from the scene.
Author note: Last updated June 14, 2026.