Philadelphia gunman identified after hourslong standoff
Officers gather for crowd control near a massive police presence set up outside a house as they investigate a shooting in Philadelphia, Wednesday. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — An hourslong standoff where a gunman shot at police, wounding six of them, as he was barricaded inside a Philadelphia home somehow ended with no fatalities.
Philadelphia Police Commissioner Richard Ross, who spent hours Wednesday negotiating with the gunman through the phone, said the situation that unfolded “could have been far worse.”
“This was a very dynamic situation, one that I hope we never see again,” he said Thursday outside the Philadelphia Police Department, which is in the process of investigating the scene.
The gunman eventually came out of the home early Thursday after police deployed tear gas in the building. He was taken to a hospital for evaluation and then placed into custody.
A law enforcement official identified the suspect as Maurice Hill. The official said the 36-year-old has a criminal record that included firearms charges. The official wasn’t authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.
The standoff started around 4:30 p.m. as officers went to a home in a north Philadelphia neighborhood of brick and stone rowhomes to serve a narcotics warrant in an operation “that went awry almost immediately,” Ross said.
Many officers “had to escape through windows and doors to get (away) from a barrage of bullets,” Ross said.
The six officers who were struck by gunfire have been released from hospitals, Philadelphia police Sgt. Eric Gripp.
Two other officers were trapped inside the house for about five hours after the shooting broke out but were freed by a SWAT team well after darkness fell on the residential neighborhood.
Ross said the reason he made the unusual decision to be the person negotiating with Hill was because he was “so worried” about his officers stuck inside.
“I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I was 200 feet away,” he said Thursday.
Three people who officers had taken into custody in the house before the shooting started were also safely evacuated, police said.
Police implored the gunman to surrender, at one point patching in his lawyer on the phone with him to try to persuade him to give up, Ross said.
Authorities also held a press conference amid the standoff in hopes that the gunman or someone he was communicating with may hear them. Ross said he was “very intentional and deliberate” with the words he used during the briefing since he was not sure if Hill knew there were two officers trapped upstairs.
Temple University locked down part of its campus, and several children and staff were trapped for some time in a nearby day care.
Police tried to push crowds of onlookers and residents back from the scene. In police radio broadcasts, officers could be heard calling for backup as reports of officers getting shot poured in.
“There was just a lot of screaming and chaos,” said Abdul Rahman Muhammad, 21, an off-duty medic.
Dozens of officers on foot lined the streets. Others were in cars and some on horses.
President Donald Trump and Attorney General William Barr were briefed on the shooting, officials said.
Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney said he was thankful that officers’ injuries weren’t life-threatening.
“I’m a little angry about someone having all that weaponry and all that firepower, but we’ll get to that another day,” Kenney said.
Comments
Lawlessness in a world stacked high in laws.
The shooter did nothing but break laws, even gun laws.
But this AP report falls short, so... Enter Paul Harvey.
The rest of the story is the folks living in and around this shooter taunted and threw objects at the police. Yes... the police go and throw self to the side, like a real hero, they put their lives on the line to protect people who hate police!
Many people in that community wanted to side with a thug who has been arrested about a dozen times since turning 18, and convicted six times on charges that involved illegal possession of guns, drug dealing, and aggravated assault. He has been in and out of prison; the longest sentence handed him came in 2010, when a federal judge gave him a 55-month term? WHAT?
So where does that hate for police come from? Well folks, that's why the AP didn't make mention of that part of the story. Now you all figure out the origins of people and the hatred toward the Police. Who owns that? Who built that?
Hands Up... Don't Think!
And That's the rest of the story... Good Day!
Maybe we should ask those involved what drives this reaction? I doubt you have any idea of life in their shoes.
Did you stick it to a Trump supporter today? Did you damage property that had a Trump sign on it? Trumpies deserve to pay more, right? It is not stealing if you get one over on a “Trumpie”, since they deserve it for being so dumb, right? Can you smell a “Trumpie” when you go into Walmart? Are you unfair Joe? Are you honest, Joe? Would you impeach Trump on fake charges just because you don’t like him? Are you a fraud Joe, or, are you just trying to even the score? You are a crooked businessman that uses extreme bias and hatred to advance your own agenda, in opposition to 63 million Conservative voters that are as smart, or smarter, than you. What happened to the collusion hoax?
I stand with my country and 57% of us think the president is unfit.
So you're not denying throwing support to the world over our own nation? hmmm... interesting.
Again, you are Aaron pushing the golden calf on God’s people.you are a soldier of the destruction of the faith. How many souls lost to the perversion of faith by you?
Is that what happened to you Joe? Well the damage the Kenyan did, this President is undoing. I'm not pushing anything on anyone. What are you talking about? Have you lost your mind? You are an arogant person. God knows my heart, he knows my ways, I'll work out my own salvation... deal?