Police standoff suspect charged
PHILADELPHIA >> A man suspec ted of shooting six police officers during an hourslong st a ndof f that ended when tear gas caused the man to surrender was charged with attempted murder.
Authorities have said that the criminal background of suspect Maurice Hill should have prevented him from legally ow ning t he f irepower used during the standoff that lasted deep into the night.
Court documents indicate that Maurice Hill, 36, faces multiple counts of attempted murder, aggravated assault, assault on a law enforcement officer, and reck less endangering. He was denied bail. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Sept. 5.
The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that at Saturday’s video arraignment, Hill sat with arms crossed and head down, re sp ond i n g “I g ue s s ” when asked whether he understood the charges.
“I am not an immediate danger,” he said after a prosecutor argued for denial of bail. A message was left with Hill’s attorney seeking comment.
Hill had at least a semiautomatic r i f le and a handgun when he opened fire Wednesday afternoon on officers serving a drug warrant, authorities said.
His rec ord include s multiple arrests in Philadelphia and adjacent Delaware County between 2001 and 2012, according to online records.
Hill’s criminal convictions include assault, perjury, f leeing and eluding, escape and weapons offenses.
He ser ved two stints in state prisons — three, counting a retur n for a probation v iolat ion . He was sentenced to 55 months in federal prison term over a pair of convictions for being a felon in possession of firearms.
Ph i l a delph i a Pol ic e C om m i s sioner R ic hard Ross has expressed a m a z ement t hat t he standoff ended with no one dead and no l i fe - threatening injuries, despite the gunman firing over 100 rounds.
The si x of ficers who were struck by g unfire were released af ter being treated at hospitals Wednesday night.
Four other men were charged w ith drug offen se s in c on ne c t ion w ith the standof f; two were trapped in the house along with the gunman and two Philadelphia police officers, the Inquirer reported.
H i l l’s law yer, Shaka Johnson, said Hill called him during the standoff asking for help surrendering. Johnson then called Philadelphia District Attor ney Larr y K ra sner, and they patched in both Hill and the police commissioner, according to Krasner.
Hill told Johnson he wanted to make it out alive to see his newborn daughter and teenage son again.