Philadelphia shooter 'does not appear' to be observant Muslim: CAIR

WASHINGTON The man who shot a policeman in Philadelphia and claimed to have pledged allegiance to Islamic State militants does not appear to be a mosque-going Muslim, a senior official at the largest U.S. Muslim advocacy group said.

"At this hour, it does not appear that he was an observant or mosque-going Muslim” in the local community, said Jacob Bender, executive director of the Philadelphia Chapter of the Council on American–Islamic Relations.

“I’ve called numerous imams and mosques to try to see if the name rings a bell with anyone. So far it hasn’t,” he told Reuters in an interview.

Edward Archer of Philadelphia approached Officer Jesse Hartnett, 33, shortly before midnight and fired 11 rounds, three of which hit the officer in his arm, authorities said. Philadelphia police said Archer confessed to the attack and said he had pledged his allegiance to Islamic State.

(Reporting by Jason Szep; Editing by David Alexander)