A veteran police officer responding to a report of a robbery at a Northeast Philadelphia bar was killed last night by a shotgun blast from a would-be robber wearing a ski mask, police said.
Officer Gary Skerski, 46, a 16-year veteran who was well-known to civic groups in the Lower Northeast, was reportedly hit in the neck at Pat's Cafe in the Northwood section. He was taken to Temple University Hospital, where he arrived shortly after 10 p.m. and was pronounced dead 15 minutes later.

Mayor Street and Police Commissioner Sylvester Johnson, in announcing Skerski's death about midnight, said the officer was married with two children.

"Their lives will never be the same again," Street said of Skerski's family, who had rushed to the hospital to be at his bedside.

Skerski had been assigned to the 15th Police District, with headquarters at Harbison Avenue and Levick Street, where he worked as a community-relations officer and frequently represented the department at meetings and events. He was working overtime on Operation Safer Streets, the city's most recent effort to curb violence.

Johnson told an impromptu news conference that Skerski and his partner had responded to a report of a robbery at the bar on Castor Avenue near Arrott Street, a favorite watering hole for cops, shortly before 10 p.m. The partner was in the front of the building and Skerski was in the back when the suspect, armed with a shotgun and a handgun, emerged.

Skerski was hit with a blast in the neck area, according to Johnson. He said the suspect also got off two shots at Skerski's partner that missed. Police do not believe that Skerski fired his weapon.

Shortly before 11:30, police stopped a minivan on Roosevelt Boulevard at Adams Avenue and took a man into custody because he matched a description of the gunman given by witnesses. Police were not able to release the man's name last night.

Neighbors said a number of police officers live in the neighborhood and frequently meet at Pat's Cafe.

After the shooting, police cars poured into the neighborhood. Cops, with guns drawn and waving flashlights, ran down the streets, shouting at neighbors to stay in their houses and lock the doors.

Responding to a rumor that a suspect had fled into nearby Greenwood Cemetery, some officers ran into the crumbling, weed-choked graveyard.

Police and TV helicopters hovered overhead, adding to the drama.

One neighbor, Joseph Menkevich, who lives about 200 feet from the shooting scene, said he had been in his house when he heard what he thought were fireworks about 10 p.m.

"I heard popping sounds," he said, "then shotgun blasts. You could almost hear the man pumping the gun, firing blast after blast. "

A neighbor said she thought she had heard "three or four shots. "

"I heard a cop was shot," she said. "That very much scared me. Nothing like this has ever happened here. "

A woman who was peering out her door said, "The idea that a cop was shot is very sad, very scary. "

Johnson told reporters that the killing of Skerski brings into focus the issues surrounding a recent, highly publicized rise in shootings by police officers, who frequently have to make split-second, life-or-death decisions.