Sgt. Stephen Liczbinski was shot when he pursued the suspects from a bank branch inside a supermarket in the Port Richmond neighborhood, WCAU-TV reported. Investigators say that the alleged robbers exchanged their stolen jeep for a van, which was also cornered by police and one man shot.

Liczbinski, shot in the abdomen, lay in the street as neighborhood residents tried to stop the bleeding. He was pronounced dead at Temple University Hospital.

Witnesses said that Liczbinski's last words were, "Tell my wife I love her."

Officers fanned out in a manhunt that spread across the city, WCAU said. Late in the day, one suspect was reported to be in custody.

Liczbinski had been with the Police Department for 12 years. He was promoted to sergeant last year.

He was the third Philadelphia police officer to be killed during a robbery in the past two years.