It was a life or death struggle for a Philadelphia Police officer, who was severely beaten with his own baton before shooting his attacker.
A witness recorded cell phone video of the beating and shooting, but investigators have asked him not to release it.
Action News got an exclusive look at the video and could see the officer being pinned against a car as the suspect hit him over the head repeatedly with his own baton.
The officer was able to free himself, pull his weapon and fire several shots.
It was a violent struggle that dozens of people saw at the intersection of 52nd and Jefferson in the Parkside section of Philadelphia Saturday morning. A Philadelphia Police officer was being beaten with his own baton by a robbery suspect.
"Well one thing lead to another, policeman got to his gun and he shot him," said one witness.
Before the shooting, police say the suspect, who was high on drugs, had just robbed another man.
The officer was able to get there quickly, but when he tried to take the suspect into custody, the man managed to get his baton. Witnesses watched him struggle with the policeman and deliver one blow after another.
"His head was pretty busted, he couldn't do anything, the dude was bigger, and he was on something," the witness said.
"The cop, the whole time he was looking at us, he was hollering 'help, help, he's reaching for my gun'," said Darryl Bravo who witnessed the attack.
"Even after his was shot, he was still going after the policeman, so whatever he was on, it didn't faze him. He said, 'I'm going to get this cop'," said Emmanuel Griffin.
Emmanuel Griffin couldn't believe his eyes when the suspect jumped back up after being shot at least six times. He charged at the officer again right before back up arrived.
"They jumped out of the cars, came over to confront the guy, he was staggering a little bit and dropped the night stick. He stopped, knelt down and laid down on the ground. The police came over to handcuff him, he jumped up elbowing the cops, knocking them down, and jumped back on him again," Griffin said.
Police back up arrived to help the injured officer. They were finally able to get handcuffs on the man.
After it was all over, witness could not help but wonder what might have happened.
"I just look at the cop as a hero. He stopped a lot of stuff from going down. If the guy would have got to the cops gun, it would have been a totally different story. We would have been having a different conversation," the witness said.
The officer sustained head injuring during the altercation and was taken to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and is expected to be treated and released.
Meanwhile, the suspect is still in critical condition and will face a list of charges.
