Man arrested in shooting of Philly school safety officer

A 28-year-old man was arrested Saturday in connection with the shooting and wounding of a Philadelphia School District safety officer early last week, police said Monday.

Ariza Giansteban was taken into custody in Paramus, N.J., and is awaiting extradition to Philadelphia, the Police Department said in a statement.

Giansteban will be charged as the alleged shooter, Deputy Commissioner Frank Vanore said Monday night.

The charges include attempted murder, attempted murder of a law enforcement officer, and related offenses, Vanore said.

On Sunday, June 29, shortly before 1:50 a.m., the 68-year-old officer was returning from a patrol assignment, driving in his marked district car on the 300 block of North Columbus Boulevard when he was shot in the chest and face, police said.

“There’s a good chance he was not a target or anything,” Vanore said two days after the shooting.

Surveillance video appeared to show a small car accident just before the shooting erupted.

The driver of one of the cars involved, a white Kia Sportage, appeared to bump into a rideshare driver, Vanore said. The rideshare driver appeared to try to get the other driver’s attention when the man in the Kia got out and fired multiple shots toward the other car.

The school safety officer, whom officials have not named, was driving in the lane next to the rideshare driver when four bullets flew through his windshield.

He was struck multiple times, and crashed into a tree, as the shooter fled.

The officer, who was taken to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital and remains in critical but stable condition, has spent nearly 20 years working for the district. He is also a retired Philadelphia police officer.