Suspect identified in shooting of Chester police officer

CHESTER, Pa. (WPVI) -- Chester police say an officer who was shot while on duty on Monday has been released from the hospital.

Officer Matt Steward is now recovering at home with his wife and two children. He is a nine year veteran of the Chester Police Department.

The suspect who allegedly pulled the trigger was pronounced dead at the hospital this morning.

Police say the suspect, identified by sources as 34-year-old Frank McQueen, arrived early this morning on the 1200 block of Culhane Street in Chester. He parked several blocks away and he was armed.

When four officers first arrived to the home around 3:50 a.m., the house appeared quiet. They had been responding to a domestic violence call, but initially no one had answered the door.

Chester Police Commissioner Joe Bail Jr. explains, "A female burst out of the door yelling that, 'He's running out back and has gun.'"

Police say as McQueen was coming out the back door he fired a shot at police, who shot back, hitting the suspect multiple times.

Steward, who is an EMT, was hit once under his vest. He was alert and he called in the injuries.

The commissioner recounts, "He was very calm. Called it in. 'I need a squad, I've been shot. We have a second victim.'"

For hours investigators combed the scene. Police say McQueen lived on the 2100 block of North 17th Street in Philadelphia and had been out on bail since last Wednesday from a protection from abuse charge in Chester on May 15th. But that didn't stop him from returning to the home on Culhane Sunday night, where police say his girlfriend and child live.

Commissioner Bail says, "My personal feeling is, these Protection from Abuse are only a piece of paper. How do you protect a woman from a piece of paper?"

Chester police say they've had contact with him ten other times and that McQueen has an extensive record elsewhere as well.

"He also has six arrests in the City of Philadelphia on a variety of charges, from drugs to arson and being a fugitive from the City of Camden," Commissioner Bail said. "He has a five page state rap sheet."

The investigation into the incident continues.