Officer shot in the face while serving warrant in Germantown

GERMANTOWN (AP/WTXF) - Authorities say a Philadelphia police officer was shot in the face and critically injured while helping fellow SWAT officers serve a warrant at a city home.

The incident happened around 6 a.m. Monday on the 4800 block of Knox Street.

Police Commissioner Richard Ross said the officer, 49-year-old Jaison Potts, suffered a broken jaw and may have artery damage along with other injuries. Ross says Potts walked into Temple University Hospital himself and was expected to survive.

After the SWAT team went through one door at the house, shots were fired through a second glass door and Potts was hit in the face, near his jaw, Ross said. Other officers returned fire, hitting the gunman.

The man, later identified as 59-year-old Ricardo Giddings, succumbed to his injuries Monday afternoon.

Commissioner Ross explained to reporters that Giddings thought someone was breaking into his home and instructed his wife, Joann, to leave. Police say Joann was critically injured after sustaining a gunshot wound to the abdomen and falling onto the couple's back patio while escaping through a second floor window.

Officials say the person named in the warrant was Giddings' grandson, who remains at large.

Potts is a 20-year veteran of the force. Mayor Jim Kenney says the married father of three was due to start a vacation on Monday.

No further information has been released at this time. This is an ongoing investigation.