A 30-year-old man is facing charges after a police officer was shot while intervening in a fight outside Overbrook High School, authorities said Thursday.
Dachan Seay was arrested in the immediate aftermath of the shooting, which happened at dismissal time Wednesday. He has been charged with two counts of aggravated assault, aggravated assault of a law enforcement officer, firearms violations and other crimes, according to prosecutors.
Police believe someone involved in the fight, possibly a student, summoned Seay to the scene, on the 1900 block of N. 59th Street. Video of the incident shows multiple officers attempting to break up a brawl when a shot is heard.
Seay allegedly showed up in an SUV and entered the crowd. At around 2:45 p.m., his handgun went off as he tried to conceal it inside his hooded sweatshirt, the District Attorney’s Office said. He was taken into custody while attempting to flee to his vehicle, according to the DAO.
“So (for) anybody out there to say, ‘Oh, it was an accident,’” Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel said Thursday. “You brought a gun to a fight. What was your expectation? So don’t be surprised when the gun goes off. I can’t say what his intent was. An apology is not what I’m looking for today.”
The bullet deflected off a fire hydrant and struck the 26-year-old officer in the stomach, under his ballistic vest, prosecutors added. It was fired from a Ruger-57, a handgun that utilizes rifle rounds, investigators said. No officers returned fire, according to the PPD.
He was initially rushed to Penn Presbyterian Medical Center in critical condition. Bethel said the officer came out of the operating room Wednesday night and is talking and sending text messages.
“This officer is on a significant road to recovery,” Bethel told reporters Thursday morning ahead of an award ceremony at Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 5 in the Far Northeast.
The PPD has not released the officer’s name, though officials said he joined the police academy in February 2024 and was reassigned two months ago to West Philadelphia’s 19th District.
Bethel, previously safety chief at the School District of Philadelphia, said he expects Overbrook High, and any school, to hold a student accountable if they call an adult to the scene of a fight.
“This has been a constant variable at our schools, where parents come up to the school, or adults come up to school, and want to engage in fights where kids are involved,” he said.
A week before the Overbrook shooting, a parent brandished a gun to threaten several staff members at Warren G. Harding Middle School in Frankford, Philadelphia Federation of Teachers President Arthur G. Steinberg said.
“As educators, the physical violence among young people that the officer was attempting to quell was devastating to witness,” he added, in a statement Wednesday. “The PFT will continue to fight for safer climates both within our school buildings and in their surrounding communities.”
Police said Seay has a criminal record, with arrests in Florida and elsewhere, that prohibits him from owning a gun.
The public defender’s association, which is representing him, did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday. Seay’s bail was set at $10 million, of which he must pay 10% to be released, according to court records. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for May 27.
