Upper Darby officer, suspect, wounded in shootout! (SMH…This has got to STOP!!)

An Upper Darby police officer and a gunman were wounded today in a shootout behind a bar, authorities said.

Police Officer Ray Blohm, 31, who suffered gunshot wounds to the lower back and thumb, is reported in stable condition at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, where the gunman also is being treated.

“The officer is very, very lucky,” said Upper Darby Police Superintendant Michael Chitwood, noting the officer’s bullet proof vest stopped a slug higher up on his back.

Chitwood the incident began about 12:30 a.m. when the officer stopped a man who was drinking alcohol from an open container and smoking marjuana behind Brownie’s Bar at Copley Road and Ludlow Street.

A confrontation ensued and when the officer tried to stop the man with his Taser, the man pulled a gun and opened fire, Chitwood said.

Blohm returned fire, hitting the gunman for times, police said. The assailant fled on foot before collapsing.

Blohm was hit twice in the lower back, once in the back of his bullet proof vest and once in the thumb.

The officer used his cell phone to call 911 to summon help because his radio was damaged by gunfire, Chitwood said.

The gunman’s condition has not been released, but initial reports indicated he should be able to survive his wounds.