The suspect linked to Wednesday’s hours-long standoff in Philadelphia surrendered to authorities just after midnight Thursday, exiting the residence with his hands in the air and with a police light shining on him.
The dramatic shootout in Philadelphia stretched on for hours as six officers were shot and two officers and three hostages were later freed, apparently unhurt.
The suspect was identified by unnamed police sources as Maurice Hill, 36, of Philadelphia.
Hill has a long record of gun-related convictions and of attempting to evade arrest, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
Shaka Mzee Johnson, the attorney who most recently represented Hill, also confirmed to the Inquirer that Hill was linked to the standoff.
One of the wounded officers reportedly was grazed in the head in the shootout in the city’s Nicetown neighborhood that began on Wednesday afternoon.
Three officers were rushed to Temple University Hospital, officials told Philadelphia’s FOX 29.
Three other officers were taken to Einstein Hospital, at least one of them was shot in an arm. All six officers were in stable condition and treated for non-life threatening injuries before doctors released them, Philadelphia Police Sgt. Eric Gripp said.
“Fortunately, everybody is going to be OK,” Ross said, even as the shooter refused to surrender to officers during ongoing negotiations.
He called the outcome “nothing short of a miracle that we don’t have multiple officers killed today. We are so thankful for that.”
Two other officers, including a police sergeant, were injured in an accident related to the emergency response and were being treated for non-life threatening injuries.
Ross said two officers with the Narcotics Strike Force were serving a warrant at the multifamily home – in what may have been a drug-related offense – when things “went awry almost immediately,” and the shooter opened fire at the home. The two officers were barricaded in separate rooms with several hostages.
After five hours of enduring consistent gunfire, the two officers were safely evacuated, although the suspect remained armed and inside the house, according to Gripp.
Law enforcement officials continued to make repeated attempts to talk to the shooter, communicating over a loudspeaker as well as trying to reach him by phone, Ross said. Police also were trying to work with a person close to the shooter to make contact with him, but the suspect answered the phone but didn’t speak.
Fox News later learnt that that liaison was the shooter’s girlfriend.
“He continues to fire rounds out of a window,” Ross said.
The SWAT team initially attempted to enter the building but were forced to retreat because of heavy gunfire through the first-floor ceiling up towards a higher floor of the building, as well as out the window, a law enforcement official told Fox News.
Hundreds of rounds of gunfire could be heard throughout the afternoon. The gunman was armed with an AR-15 and several handguns, officials told Fox News.
Ross said many rounds of ammunition struck the SWAT truck and buildings across the street and “right now we’re not sure” if it’s just one shooter.
Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney said he’s “angry about someone having all that weaponry and all that firepower.”
Officials negotiating with the suspect tried to assure him that he would not be harmed if he surrendered, to no avail.
“We’re just trying to do as much as we can to resolve this peacefully,” Ross said, adding that it’s a “very volatile situation that is still unfolding.”
President Trump was made aware of the unfolding scene in Philadelphia, according to White House deputy press secretary Hogan Gidley.
Source: Fox News