One Philadelphia officer is dead and another critically wounded after gunfire hit them on a West Philly porch early Saturday, a city worker later surrendered.

Just after midnight early Saturday, Philadelphia police answered a call about a man armed with a gun on a porch in the 100 block of North 52nd Street in West Philadelphia. The moment the officers stepped onto that porch, they were hit by gunfire, the New York Post reported.

One officer, a 33-year-old father of five, was shot 12 times. The other, a 40-year-old father of two, was shot three times. Both were taken to Penn Presbyterian Medical Center. One died. The other was left in critical condition. Police have not confirmed which officer was killed.

Two fathers answered a routine gun call. One never came home. The other is fighting for his life.

City water worker fled, kept shooting, then hid in a tree

The alleged shooter is Eric Lewis, a Philadelphia Water Department worker, according to sources cited in local reporting. After the porch attack, Lewis initially fled. He continued firing at police in a nearby alley, then climbed a tree to hide.

He surrendered only after a SWAT unit arrived. Officers recovered three firearms at the scene, two handguns and a shotgun. One of those weapons belonged to a cop. How the suspect got it has not been explained.

Sudden violence that leaves officers and families reeling is not rare. A Coast Guard officer killed in another sudden shooting left the same raw public grief and unanswered questions in its wake.

No motive has been stated. No formal charges were detailed in the initial accounts. What is known is the sequence: a gun call, officers on a porch, immediate gunfire, a chase, more shots, a tree, and a surrender once SWAT showed up.

Mayor Parker faces families still in shock

Mayor Cherelle Parker spoke with the victims’ families and held an early Saturday press conference. She described the department and the families pulling tight together under the blow.

"Their families right now are feeling unspeakable pain but watching this department and those families sticking close together as a village has definitely showed me what the indomitable power of the human spirit is and can mean during times like this,"

Parker also posted a separate statement on social media praising the risk officers accept every shift.

"They put themselves in harm’s way every day, and put their lives on the line, to protect the People of Philadelphia."

Those words land hardest for the households now missing a father of five or a father of two. The same heavy aftermath followed when a Long Island father was shot dead and hospitals scrambled under lockdown pressure.

Shapiro offers prayers while the second officer fights on

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro posted his own message of support early that morning. He and his wife, Lori, said they were praying for the two officers shot in the line of duty.

"Law enforcement officers put their lives on the line every day to protect their fellow Pennsylvanians. We are grateful for their courage and service, and are hoping for their full and speedy recovery."

One officer is beyond recovery. The other remains critical at Penn Presbyterian. Officials have released neither full names nor a final public accounting of which man died.

Attacks that put multiple officers in harm’s way keep stacking up nationwide. Four Green Bay police officers were hurt when a suspected drunk driver plowed toward a crowd near a food truck, another reminder that the danger does not always wait for a quiet street.

What the early record still leaves open

The call came in as a man with a gun on a porch. Whether that man was already confirmed as Lewis before officers arrived is not clear from the initial reports. The absolute calendar date was not locked down in early accounts, only “early Saturday morning” and “just after midnight.”

Also unsettled: the precise charges Lewis may face, any stated reason for the attack, and how a police weapon ended up among the three guns recovered. Those gaps matter for accountability. They do not change what happened on the porch.

High-stakes confrontations can turn in seconds, as when an ICE officer wounded a Dominican gang member during a Bronx arrest and the streets erupted afterward. In West Philadelphia, the turn was lethal before the officers could finish the first step of the call.

Two Philadelphia cops walked onto a porch to do their jobs. One is dead. One is fighting. The man accused of the shooting is a city employee who ran, kept firing, hid in a tree, and gave up when SWAT closed in. Three guns came off the scene. One of them belonged to the police.

Families of a 33-year-old father of five and a 40-year-old father of two are living with the cost. Taxpayers who count on a thin blue line at midnight are living with it too. When officers answer a gun call and meet a wall of fire on the first step, the public owes them more than statements. It owes them a city that treats attacks on cops as the line that cannot be crossed.