August 30, 2019

USA: Philly Police Had A 6 Hour Standoff With A Man Who Opened Fire On Police Officers Who Were Serving A Narcotics Search Warrant. He Shot 6 Police Officers. He Surrendered UNHARMED.

Heavy.com
written by Jessica McBride
Thursday August 15, 2019

Some members of the crowd that gathered outside the scene of the Philadelphia shooting of six police officers laughed and taunted at police as they were trying to get the gunman to come out of the house where he was barricaded.

That’s according to journalist Alexandria Hoff of CBS Philadelphia, who was at the scene.

Writing on Twitter, Hoff expressed disapointment at what she witnessed and indicated she was also harassed at the standoff scene, which broke out when police say Maurice Hill, a felon with a lengthy criminal history, opened fire on officers who were serving a narcotics search warrant.

A video also emerged that showed people yelling at police officers (you can see a van belonging to the daycare near the shooting scene in the video. None of the children was harmed.) People also screamed profanities at cops at the scene.

Hoff posted two tweets that described the situation, which eventually ended when Hill (above on his Facebook page) surrendered.

“I mentioned this at 10 and since I was harassed during that live shot, I’ll mention it here too. A major moment of disappointment this evening was watching a crowd of people taunt police officers, laughing and yelling at them in the midst of the gunfire. #PhiladelphiaShooting,” she wrote on Twitter.

“I should add – 98% of people here on scene were respectful and concerned. That moment was just such a startling thing to see in the middle of something so chaotic,” she added.

Although the officers did not suffer life-threatening injuries, for hours the situation was dangerous and very volatile, according to the police commissioner.

Police have not yet released the suspect’s name. The Philadelphia Inquirer newspaper cited police sources for its report, and CBS Philadelphia also reported that the suspect in the more than 7-hour long standoff is Maurice Hill, attributing the information to his lawyer. Just after midnight, police announced: “Suspect is in custody. SWAT is still clearing the house.”

As a felon, Maurice Hill was legally barred from possessing a firearm; he was previously convicted in federal court of illegally doing just that (being a felon in possession of a firearm). You can read Maurice Hill’s extremely lengthy state criminal history here. Over the years, many criminal charges ended up not being prosecuted by authorities, including firearms offenses and accusations of reckless endangerment.

The mayor used the shooting press conference to highlight gun control issues.

“Our officers need help…. They need help with gun control. They need help with keeping weapons out of these people’s hands,” Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney said. “This government, federal and state’s level, doesn’t want to do anything about getting these guns off the streets and getting them out of the hands of criminals.”

The terrifying incident could have been much worse, as officers were pinned inside the dwelling while the suspect was still firing for a time and one officer suffered a wound to his head.

The police commissioner said he hadn’t seen anything like it “in years.”

In the August 14, 2019 shooting, police dispatch audio indicated at one point that the gunman was in a kitchen shooting at officers up through the floor. An officer on the dispatch audio says the suspect was “shooting from inside a kitchen. Shooting upwards and forwards from the position of the police.” Officers were pinned down inside the home at one point, according to the audio.

Video showed officers crouched down behind their police vehicles.
I read in other articles where local residents were interviewed and were actually blaming the police for the shootout. Unreal. It was Maurice Hill who started the shootout when the warrant for his arrest was served. It was Maurice Hill who didn't give a damn who was shot injured or killed in the crossfire. Maurice Hill put all of his neighbors lives at risk. The police had to neutralize Maurice Hill to protect the community. How do Black Lives Matter supporters respond at the scene? By physically attacking the police, and protecting the criminal who is putting everybody's lives at risk. And you somehow have the nerve to blame the White man for the oppressive conditions in your neighborhood? What did you expect the community would be like without law and order? You actually believed the criminals you're protecting would improve your lives? Crime ridden neighborhoods are oppressing you NOT the White man.

Let me put it another way. You have security bars on your doors and windows not to keep the police out, but to keep the criminals you're protecting out. Right? I would think those bars would make you feel imprisoned in your own home. That awful unsafe oppressed feeling would be thanks to the crime ridden neighborhood and NOT the White man. Who is in charge of your city? Democrats? Why are they allowing you to live with such unsafe conditions where graffiti vandals, thieves, and murderers control the streets? (emphasis mine)

CBS Philly published on Aug 15, 2019: Suspected Gunman Accused Of Shooting 6 Philly Cops Has Long Rap Sheet
The Philadelphia Inquirer
written by Samantha Melamed, Jeremy Roebuck, Dylan Purcell and Craig R. McCoy
Thursday August 15, 2019

Police sources have identified the gunman in a standoff at a Tioga apartment building that left six police officers injured as Maurice Hill, 36, a Philadelphia man with a lengthy history of gun convictions and resisting attempts to bring him to justice.

The police sources declined to be identified because they were not authorized to speak. Reached by phone about 9:30 p.m. Wednesday, Shaka Johnson, the lawyer who most recently represented Hill, confirmed that Hill had a connection to the standoff.

“My client is requesting me to come to the scene,” he said.

The standoff began about 4:30 p.m. Wednesday when a Narcotics Strike Force unit attempted to serve a search warrant at a house on the 3700 block of North 15th Street.

For the next few hours, police used bullhorns and phone calls trying to get the gunman to surrender.

And then, just after midnight, a man left the home and was placed into police custody.

After Hill’s surrender, Johnson said in an interview with CBS3 that Hill called him about 8:30 p.m. on his personal phone “in a panic."

“I told him, ‘You gotta surrender, man,’” said Johnson, who added that he has known Hill for about a decade.

Hill’s history in the adult criminal justice system began in 2001, when he was 18 and was arrested with a gun that had an altered serial number.

Public records show that he 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.

And his record indicates he does not like to go to prison. In 2008, he was convicted of escaping, fleeing from police, and resisting arrest. Along the way, he beat criminal charges on everything from kidnapping to attempted murder.

Hill also spent time in federal prison. In 2008, he pleaded guilty to federal firearms violations after he was caught with a Smith & Wesson .357 and later a Taurus PT .45 semiautomatic. His prior felony convictions should have barred him from owning those weapons. U.S. District Judge Paul S. Diamond sentenced him to four years and seven months in prison.

More recently, Hill was convicted of perjury in 2013 and sentenced to seven years of probation. He appeared before Common Pleas Court Judge Rayford Means for three different alleged violations of probation — at least two of them related to new cases, which he later beat.

In one of those cases, Philadelphia police arrested Hill in May 2014 after spotting him driving an unregistered scooter. But when officers tried to stop him, he raced down an alleyway against traffic on a one-way street and then onto a sidewalk, sending pedestrians scattering, court records say. Hill crashed the scooter and then fled on foot but was apprehended. He was charged with driving without a license, recklessly endangering another person, and fleeing police, but was acquitted on all counts.

Philadelphia police arrested Hill again in October 2014 on charges of drug possession and false imprisonment.

According to court filings, his accuser told police she had agreed to sell marijuana for Hill but then changed her mind. When he summoned her to his house on the 6900 block of Greenway Street in Southwest Philadelphia days later, she said, she overheard Hill and an associate discussing killing her. Fearful for her life, the woman said, she called 911. When officers arrived, she fled as Hill and his associate hid the crack cocaine and marijuana in a tire out back. Investigators discovered 83 grams of marijuana.

Inside Edition published on Aug 15, 2019: Philadelphia police were being taunted and heckled during Wednesday’s wild eight-hour siege with a gunman in the city. Some onlookers surrounded the officers, pelting them with garbage. One cop was even shoved. This all happened as other officers dealt with a man firing at them who wounded six officers. Larry Artis, who served during the Iraq War, watched the terrifying gunplay from his bedroom window. He said he was afraid, adding, “I had my wife on the floor ducking.”

CBS3 News, Philly local
written by Staff
Friday August 16, 2019

PHILADELPHIA — Only a handful of people showed up for a controversial rally on Friday night in North Philadelphia to support Maurice Hill, the alleged gunman accused of shooting six Philadelphia police officers. Organizers were expecting 200 to 300 people at the rally.

Earlier in the day, Philadelphia Police Commissioner Richard Ross said police would have to be there too.

“Sadly, we do have to be there, I don’t understand it. There’s certain marches I do understand, this is definitely not one of them,” Ross said.

Hill is still in jail right now while he waits to be arraigned.

Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner said Thursday Hill will most likely face charges of attempted murder and aggravated assault, among others.

“There will be a lot of charges. These are more than enough charges so that Mr. Maurice Hill may never exit jail,” Krasner said.

All six police officers suffered non-life-threatening injuries and were released from the hospital Wednesday night.
UPDATE 8/30/19 at 9:34pm: Added tweets below.

Posted by Princess Mononoke at 3:32 PM

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