4 appear in court on charges related to officer’s slaying

PHILADELPHIA » Four men have appeared in court for the first time on charges related to the death of a Philadelphia police officer shot as police were trying to serve a warrant earlier this year.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that a judge Tuesday heard testimony from the first officer who entered the home in the Frankford neighborhood March 13. He said he loudly announced that police were there to serve a warrant but officers were fired upon almost immediately as they climbed the stairs to the second f loor.

Cpl. James O’Connor I V, a 46-year-old member of the SWAT team, was shot in the shoulder above his bulletproof vest. O’Connor, who was posthumously promoted to sergeant, was pronounced dead shortly afterward at a hospital.

Two other people in the home were wounded by return fire from another officer. Authorities have said evidence recovered at the scene indicated that 16 shots were fired at the officers and one of the SWAT team members returned fire.

Tw e n t y - t w o - y e a r - o l d Hassan Elliot, accused of having fired the fatal shot, faces murder, attempted homicide and weapons charges. He’s also charged in the 2019 slaying that sent officers to the home with an arrest warrant as well as in a December shooting in the same neighborhood. A call seeking comment was made to his attorney Tuesday.

Two other defendants are charged with murder under the conspiracy act, with prosecutors alleging that the three are members of a v iolent street gang. One also faces drug counts and the other also faces murder charges in a separate slaying. A fourth defendant faces weapons counts.

O’Connor, a married father of two — including a son who also serves on the force — had been a police of f icer for 23 years and was with the SWAT unit for 15 years. His daughter serves in the U.S. Air Force.