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Edward Archer, shown in a photo provided by the Philadelphia Police Department, was arrested for allegedly shooting a Philadelphia police officer on, Jan. 7, 2016.(Photo: Getty Images)
The FBI<span style="color: Red;">*</span>is<span style="color: Red;">*</span>investigating why a male suspect who police say confessed to<span style="color: Red;">*</span>wounding<span style="color: Red;">*</span>a Philadelphia officer "in the name of Islam" took trips to<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Saudi Arabia and Egypt in the past five<span style="color: Red;">*</span>years.
Police said Edward Archer, 30, fired 13 rounds from a stolen police firearm<span style="color: Red;">*</span>at<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Officer Jessie Hartnett<span style="color: Red;">*</span>while the cop was<span style="color: Red;">*</span>sitting in his patrol car late Thursday. The 33-year-old officer,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>who was in serious condition with gunshot wounds to his arm,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>returned fire, hitting Archer.
The suspect<span style="color: Red;">*</span>was<span style="color: Red;">*</span>quickly taken into custody by other officers while<span style="color: Red;">*</span>fleeing the scene.
He was arraigned Saturday on one count of attempted murder as well as charges of aggravated assault on a police officer, reckless endangerment and making terroristic threats.
Police officials said Friday that Archer, who was wearing a<span style="color: Red;">*</span>long-sleeved white tunic<span style="color: Red;">*</span>over dark pants during the attack, confessed to the shooting and said he did it "in the name of Islam."
"I follow Allah. I pledge my allegiance to the Islamic State, and that's why I did what I did," Archer told police investigators, according to Homicide Capt. James Clark.
Police commissioner Richard Ross, speaking to reporters Friday, said<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Archer told detectives he<span style="color: Red;">*</span>"believes that the police defend laws that are contrary to the teaching of the Koran."
In this frame from a Thursday, Jan. 7, 2016 video provided by the Philadelphia Police Department, Edward Archer runs with a gun toward a police car driven by Officer Jesse Hartnett in Philadelphia.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>(Photo: Philadelphia Police Dept., AP)
Archer's mother, Valerie Holliday,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>told the<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Philadelphia Inquirer<span style="color: Red;">*</span>her son was a devout Muslim, but suffered head injuries from playing football and in a moped accident. He has "been acting kind of strangely lately, talking to himself ... laughing and mumbling," she said.
Police and FBI agents<span style="color: Red;">*</span>searched his mother's<span style="color: Red;">*</span>home in suburban Yeadon on Friday and a second<span style="color: Red;">*</span>location in West Philadelphia.
Philadelphia police Officer Jesse Hartnett, show in a handout photo, was seriously injured in an attack by a gunman at close range on Jan. 7, 2016.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>(Photo: Phil. Police Dept., Getty Images)
Investigators believe Archer traveled to Saudi Arabia in 2011 for a pilgrimage to Mecca<span style="color: Red;">*</span>and to Egypt in 2012, FBI special agent Eric Ruona said. The purpose of that travel was under<span style="color: Red;">*</span>investigation. Police said there was no indication anyone else was involved in the officer's ambush.
Jacob Bender, the executive director of the Philadelphia chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, an advocacy group, said he contacted about five inner-city mosques and found no one who knew of Archer, the Associated Press reported.
Mayor Jim Kenney<span style="color: Red;">*</span>played down the Islam connection,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>calling Archer "a criminal with a stolen gun who tried to kill one of our officers."
"It has nothing to do with being a Muslim or following the Islamic faith," Kenney said.
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