"He's been speaking to himself", and listening to voices, the newspaper quoted Valerie Holliday as saying.
Edward Archer, 30, would tell police later that he allegedly attacked for ISIS.
The city's police commissioner said yesterday that Mr Archer told authorities that he ambushed the patrol vehicle "in the name of Islam".
"His will to live undoubtedly saved his life", Ross said. Ross added, "He doesn't appear to be a stupid individual, just an extremely violent one".
Law enforcement sources say Archer's first trip was to Saudi Arabia in 2011 for Hajj.
But Ross said there is no indication that Archer did, in fact, have any concrete ties to radical Islam or the terror group. Police said they were astonished he survived. A top U.S. Muslim advocacy group said it had found no evidence that Archer was an observant Muslim. "We're left to say, 'OK, he's leaving a trail for us".
"We've got to start educating the public about what's really going on out there".
The FBI is assisting the Philadelphia Police with the investigation.
Captain James Clark, head of the homicide unit, said the suspect told investigators: "I follow Allah".
The video out of Philadelphia is shocking: 30-year-old ex con Edward Archer shoots officer Jessie Hartnett.
She said her son is devout Muslim who has practiced the faith "for a long time". He said the officer returned fire, hitting his assailant at least three times.
Other officers chased Archer and apprehended him.
Archer was hospitalized to be treated for a gunshot wound and later released, police said today.
Ross repeatedly called Hartnett's survival "absolutely unbelievable". Court data present he pleaded responsible in 2014 to assault and carrying an unlicensed gun, expenses that obtained him a jail sentence of between 9 and 23 months. He continued firing as he walked toward Officer Hartnett and eventually got up next to the vehicle and reached through the driver's-side window. When asked if the robe was considered Muslim garb, Ross said he didn't know and didn't think it mattered. She said she did not believe he had been radicalized.
Hartnett chased Archer, who was arrested by responding officers and later confessed to the assault, police officers advised reporters. Officials said they were trying to figure out how Archer got the weapon and whether it passed through other people's hands since the theft.
Kenney, who praised Hartnett's bravery, said the shooting was indicative of the gun violence problem. "But he's a tough guy". He is a five-year veteran of the Philadelphia PD, having transferred from another department in a lateral move.
"There are too many guns on our streets", putting both police and civilians in harm's way, he said. "I'm shot. I'm bleeding heavily", he yelled in a dispatch call. That prompted Mayor Jim Kenney, standing with the commissioner at the news conference, to say: "In no way, shape or form does anyone in this room believe that Islam or the teaching of Islam have anything to do with what you've seen on this screen".
Bill Cowher: Steelers-Bengals Wild Card Game Comes Down To Receivers
My stronger play is on who will win against the spread and I will post that in the Premium Area. The Bengals have to find a way to contain Antonio Brown and this high-powered Steelers offense.
