The man a police officer shot Wednesday night along Restaurant Row in downtown Harrisburg tried to attack the officer with a knife, Dauphin County District Attorney Ed Marscio said.



Officer Scott Johnson spotted the unidentified suspect slashing the tires of a police vehicle near the police department at about 8:10 p.m., Marsico said.

The man fled to the 200 block of Strawberry Street between the Hilton Harrisburg and Mulligans bar after Johnson tried to arrest him, police said.

The officer chased the man to Strawberry Street when he attacked Johnson with a knife, officials said.

Johnson told the suspect to stop numerous times but he continued to come at him with the knife, Marsico said. That’s when the officer fired three shots at the man.

Marsico said he didn’t know how many times the suspect was hit or where the bullets(s) entered his body. The man was rushed to Hershey Medical Center in critical condition after the incident. Marsico said he did not know the man’s current condition.

Marsico said he is withholding the name of the of the suspect until family is notified of his condition, and he said he will release further details as they become available today.

The Dauphin County Criminal Investigation and Drug Task Force is investigating the incident. DCID investigates every incident involving police gunfire.

Police shot at another suspect earlier this week after he tried to run over an officer at Cameron and Paxton streets.

