6 police officers shot in North Philadelphia
2 officers trapped in house for hours
PHILADELPHIA — Six police officers were shot in a confrontation with at least one gunman Wednesday afternoon in the Tioga section of North Philadelphia, and after nightfall, two officers emerged after being trapped for hours in the house where the shootout first erupted at 4: 30 p. m.
At 8 p. m., Police Commissioner Richard Ross said a man inside the house in the 3700 block of North 15th Street was still firing out windows, striking a SWAT vehicle and homes across the street.
At a news conference outside Temple University Hospital, where some of the injured officers were taken, Commissioner Ross, wearing a ballistic vest, said he had personally tried to talk to the shooter in an effort to negotiate a surrender. He said the man had picked up the phone but had not verbally responded.
“He can end this peacefully now,” he said.
Shortly before 9: 25 p. m., the officers exited the house.
Narcotics officers were attempting to serve an arrest warrant at the house when shots were fired. Two Narcotics Strike Force bicycle officers were pinned down on the second floor with three other people who were handcuffed, police said. The officers did not say they were hurt, but they were at risk of getting shot because the suspect on the first floor was firing into the ceiling.
Initially, police said there was one shooter inside a house on the block still firing shots shortly before 5 p. m. Later, police said they believed there were two shooters inside. It was unclear later if that remained their understanding of the situation.
At the 8 p. m. news conference, Commissioner Ross said he still did not know whether one or two shooters were involved.
One officer was grazed in the head but was conscious and communicating, police said. A second officer was hit in one or both arms. A third officer was shot, possibly in the arm.
Three officers were taken to Temple University Hospital, and three were being treated at Einstein Medical Center.
“Fortunately, everybody’s going to be OK,” Commissioner Ross said at the evening news conference.
Of the shooter, he said, “He is continuing to fire. It is of grave concern to us.
“There is no indication that he’s trying to surrender,“he continued. “We’re very concerned about the neighborhood. We’re very concerned about the police officers.”
As the chaos erupted outside with police dashing for cover from the gunfire, one of the trapped officers calmly relayed position details to a police dispatcher and his superiors and colleagues who were listening.
They had at least two people with them in handcuffs, he said.
Within seconds after the shooting began, a dispatcher called for an “assist officer,” meaning a police officer needed immediate help.
“Shots fired!” an officer declared.
Then, in rapid succession, came a “second assist!” and then a “third assist!”
“Officer down!” someone shouted.
“Everyone stay back!” one of the commanders outside ordered.
Within minutes, one of the officers announced he had eight officers at the front door ready to rush in.
But top brass ordered all the officers to maintain safe positions out of the line of fire.
“Male shooting out the back! Everyone stay put!” another commander declared a short time later.
Then came an excited announcement a minute later: “That male has a long gun! That male has a long gun!”
Shots continued to be fired from the house. Just before 5: 14 p. m., a dispatcher reported that there might be a second shooter inside. Earlier, police said a suspect inside the house was livestreaming on Facebook.
Police had been attempting to communicate with the gunman through a loudspeaker as residents were being evacuated from nearby streets.
A day care center near the shooting scene was under lockdown until about 7: 10 p. m., when police said they were escorting 58 children and adults from the location. Police officers carried babies and mothers comforted shaken children as the day care was evacuated.
“We had to stay calm and collected and get the children calm,” one staffer said.
Police set up two city buses to hold children whose parents hadn’t yet arrived to pick them up. Other parents rushed frantically down the block, asking after their children at the bus doors.
“I’m just happy I got my daughter,” said Shere Calhoun, smoothing her 8year- old’s hair. “I didn’t want her to be a victim.”
“Calm down, calm down,” an officer called to another parent running down the block. “The kids are safe.”
Earlier in the day, Temple University issued a lockdown for its nearby health and science campus, which includes the hospital. It was lifted after 7 p. m.
Temple advised people to continue to avoid the area around the incident.
Amanda Baker was hunkered down, avoiding the windows in her apartment a few houses down the block from the one police had surrounded.
“I was watching TV and I heard all this ruckus,” she said, breathing heavily while speaking to a reporter by phone. “Next thing I saw, there were cops with their guns drawn running past the window. This is the craziest thing I’ve ever seen.”
She said she’d been calling neighbors who were coming home from work and alerting them not to come to the house.
Mayor Jim Kenney, appearing at the evening news conference with Commissioner Ross, decried the gunfire. “I’m a little angry about someone having all that weaponry and all that firepower,” he said. But for now, he said, his focus was on ending the standoff peacefully.
“God bless them,” he said. “And God save them all.”