Man in Philadelphia police shooting gets up to 97 years in prison

(Reuters) - A man who shot and badly wounded a Philadelphia police officer in what he said was an ambush inspired by Islamic State militants was sentenced to between 48-1/2 and 97 years in prison on Monday, prosecutors said.

Edward Archer approached Jesse Hartnett, who was sat in his police car at the time, shortly before midnight on Jan. 7, 2016, and fired a handgun 11 times, hitting the officer three times in the arm.

In February, a jury found Archer, 33, guilty of attempted murder and aggravated assault, among other charges.

Police said Archer confessed to the ambush, which was captured on surveillance video, as an act of allegiance to the Islamic State militant group. Investigators found no evidence of ties to the group and did not charge him with terrorism-related crimes.

Archer received the maximum possible sentence on Friday in Philadelphia's Court of Common Pleas, which the city's district attorney's office had said was necessary because there were no mitigating circumstances and because of the impact on Hartnett's health and career.

Hartnett had multiple surgeries on his arm to fix a severed major artery and a shattered elbow, prosecutors said, but had permanent damage and is unlikely to be able to return to policing.

Despite the bullet wounds, Hartnett was able to get out of his car and chase Archer, shooting him once in the buttocks. Two other nearby officers were then able to arrest Archer.

(Reporting by Jonathan Allen in New York; editing by Jonathan Oatis)