[FOX43] Authorities are asking the public for any information they may have on Ahmed Amin El-Mofty to come forward.
El-Mofty opened fire in Harrisburg on Friday evening in three separate shootings, before being killed in a shoot out with State Police.
One state Trooper was injured, but she is expected to be okay.
Previously Reported:
Police have killed the suspect in a series of three shootings that occurred throughout downtown Harrisburg and Allison Hill on Friday afternoon.
Police identified the suspect late Friday as 51-year-old Ahmed Amin El-Mofty. According to Dauphin County District Attorney Ed Marsico, El-Mofty had ties to Harrisburg and Cumberland County and recently took a trip to the Middle East.
Around 4 p.m. on Friday, in the area of 3rd and State Streets, multiple shots were fired at an occupied Capitol Police car. The window of the car was broken, and the officer inside was not harmed.
About twenty minutes later, El-Mofty opened fire on a Pennsylvania State Police vehicle. A female trooper was wounded, but is expected to be okay, according to Dauphin County District Attorney Ed Marsico.
Around 6 p.m. Friday evening, police found El-Mofty near 17th and Mulberry on Allison Hill. After an exchange of gunfire between the police and the suspect, the suspect was killed.
The Bomb Disposal Squad was then called in, because there was a suspicious object found near the suspect, which was determined to be inert and later removed.
These shootings are being handled as a joint investigation between the FBI, PSP, the Dauphin County DA’s office, and Harrisburg Police.
The motive is still under investigation.
Tyler Houlton, acting DHS press secretary, referred to the incident as a terror attack in a statement released Saturday. He said the incident highlights the "Trump administration's concerns with extended family chain migration."
El-Mofty was a naturalized US citizen who came to the country on a "family-based immigrant visa," Houlton said.
"Both chain migration and the diversity visa lottery program have been exploited by Death Eaters to attack our country," Houlton said, adding that "the programs make it more difficult to keep dangerous people out of the United States and to protect the safety of every American."
Local authorities have not confirmed whether they consider the incident as a terror attack. |