2 more arrests made in killing of Philadelphia police officer Richard Mendez
The shooting happened in a parking garage at Philadelphia International Airport late Thursday night.
PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Two more arrests have been made in connection with a shooting last week that left Philadelphia police officer Richard Mendez dead and another officer wounded.
Those suspects have been identified as Alexander Batista-Polanco, 21, of Camden, New Jersey and Hendrick Pena-Fernandez, 21, of Pennsauken, New Jersey.
Both have been formally charged with murder in connection to Mendez's death.
Batista-Polanco had warrants in New Jersey and was taken to Scranton, Pennsylvania to face burglary charges there before being brought to Philadelphia.
Pena-Fernandez is currently being held in Bellmawr, New Jersey.
Batista-Polanco was arrested early Tuesday morning, while Pena-Fernandez was arrested early Wednesday.
A third suspect in the killing, 18-year-old Yobranny Martinez Fernandez of Camden County, New Jersey, was arrested early Monday in Cherry Hill.
All three suspects are being charged with the murder of Officer Mendez.
A fourth person believed to be involved in the killing, 18-year-old Jesus Herman Madera Duran, was killed in the Thursday night shooting.
"This is the belief now, that all of the individuals inside that Dodge Durango the night this incident happened were identified and we believe we have them into custody," said Interim First Dep. Commissioner Frank Vanore.
The shooting happened in a parking garage at Philadelphia International Airport around 11 p.m. Thursday.
Authorities said Officers Richard Mendez and Raul Ortiz had just arrived at work about 11 p.m. last Thursday when they heard breaking glass and saw several people breaking into a car in the parking lot at Philadelphia International Airport. A confrontation ensued, and the two officers and one of the suspects were shot.
Officer Mendez, 50, who had been on the force for more than two decades, was shot four times and pronounced dead at a hospital.
Ortiz, a 60-year-old who is a 20-year veteran of the force, was shot once in the arm and was released from the hospital Saturday.
