Manhunt on for gunman who opened fire on plainclothes Philadelphia police officer

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- A manhunt is on for a suspect who allegedly opened fire on a plainclothes Philadelphia police officer on Tuesday night.

A swarm of police officers descended on the 2000 block of South Salford Street in Southwest Philadelphia.

Police tell Action News the gunman, who was wearing a hooded sweatshirt over his face, fired at least 10 shots at the officer.

A swarm of police officers are on the scene as reported by Christie Ileto during Action News at 11 on September 3, 2019.

Officials say a plainclothes officer in an unmarked car was conducting surveillance in the area when the gunman walked up and opened fire. He shot at the driver's side of the car. The officer was not injured.

Action News obtained exclusive video of the officer's unmarked car.

"He was sitting in the driver seat, so he's very very lucky that he was not struck by gunfire," said Philadelphia Chief Inspector Scott Small.

Detectives spent hours combing the neighborhood block looking for the gunman, but their search proved fruitless.

"This individual slipped away. We don't know how he got away because we set up a perimeter pretty quickly," Small said.

The suspect is described as a 6-foot black male, wearing a gray hoodie and blue jeans.

Anyone with any information is asked to call police at 215-686-TIPS.

The shooting incident comes less than a month after a shooting, standoff situation in the Tioga-Nicetown section that left six officers shot, and several others injured.