Philadelphia shooting suspect barricaded as officers urge surrender

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Philadelphia shooting suspect barricaded as officers urge surrender

Six officers injured in shootout; panel reaction and analysis on 'Hannity.'

This is a rush transcript from "Hannity," August 14, 2019. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

SEAN HANNITY, HOST: All right, Mark. Thank you.

Buckle up, a lot of breaking news. We begin with a Fox News alert tonight.

We have carnage on the streets in Philadelphia tonight, a standoff still underway. We have six police officers shot today during a brutal, evil attack in a North Philadelphia neighborhood. Here's how the police commissioner described the scene.

He said this just moments ago. Let's take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICHARD ROSS, PHILADELPHIA POLICE COMMISSIONER: Around 4:30 today, officers were serving a narcotics warrant on a house on the 3600 block. They had already entered the premises and got towards the rear, the kitchen area, when gunfire erupted. The shooter fired multiple rounds. Officers returned fire, many of whom had to escape through windows and doors to get from a barrage of bullets.

Right now, we can tell you that there are six police officers who were struck by gunfire. Thankfully, all of them are in stable condition. Trying to talk to this male, he continues to fire rounds out of the window, so this situation is in no way resolved.

We are trying to talk to this male, trying to let him that he can end this peacefully now. We have called him multiple times. He has picked up the phone a couple of times but has not answered.

So, we've been trying to work with a family member, but right now, we have not been successful.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: All right. Obviously, an ongoing situation.

In joining us live from the ground in Philly, our own Rick Leventhal who is there.

Rick, it's still ongoing. We have six officers shot. Our prayers go out to all of them.

There is a reason police officers carry weapons. They protect, they serve, their jobs are dangerous. People need to remember sometimes.

We pray for these families tonight.

RICK LEVENTHAL, CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. Every minute of every day, Sean, they face that danger. And today, it was right in their faces as they tried to serve a warrant in this narcotics interdiction operation.

And as you heard, the police commissioner say, they were jumping out windows to escape the gunfire from the suspect, who armed himself, according to my sources, with an AR-15, also has, I'm told, several handguns, and has been shooting rounds at a pretty aggressive clip. We were told a couple hours ago that he had fired at least 100 shots, may be more and more gunfire heard around 8:30, so about 30 minutes ago.

Just to give our viewers some perspective, we are standing in the middle of Broad Street, just a couple blocks from the North Philly Temple University campus. Erie is right behind me, and the block the commissioner was speaking of, 3600 block of North 15th Street, just to the left of the camera. Just a couple blocks away.

So, we are very close to the scene, but this is about as close as we can get. You see the massive turnout of police here, ATF is on the ground, as well. I believe FBI is here, too, and we know that the SWAT team, Sean, tried to make entry into the residence a short time ago, I'm told from a police source that they retreated. They may have used a stun grenade, and tried to gain entry, but then they were forced to retreat in the face of heavy resistance and more heavy gunfire.

I think you heard commissioner mentioned they were using a bullhorn. They were also trying to call the suspect's telephone. Apparently, a girlfriend is involved in these ongoing negotiations to try and talk this guy down and get him out.

But as far as we know, at this moment, Sean, he has not given up. He has fired many rounds out the window, and apparently through the ceiling, as well because we were told a couple of Philadelphia police officers were pinned down, in the building, on the second floor -- suspect on the first floor, shooting up through ceiling.

Was that -- was that gunfire? We may have just heard more shots fired, Sean.

So, an ongoing, dangerous situation for the police.

CBS Philly, Sean, by the way, is reporting that at least 30 Philadelphia police officers have fired rounds from their weapons in this ongoing, basically gun battle, that is happening in the streets of North Philadelphia.

HANNITY: Rick, I just want to be clear, the police officers do not think, in any way, that there is anyone being held with his gunman now, right?

LEVENTHAL: As far as we know, that's correct. And we were told there may have been some arrests made during this narcotics interdiction operation. The officers were pinned, may have had suspects in custody, and there was another report that some suspects may have exited the building with SWAT. We can't say for sure if that has happened because we are a little far away from the scene, it's tough to tell if the noises we are hearing our gunfire.

I don't want to say it is definitely happening, because again, we are a bit of a distance away, but as you can see, massive police turnout here. The good news for the Philadelphia Police Department is the wounds to those officers were not life-threatening. I heard through a source from doctor who said that they were a graze to the forehead, one person shot -- a police officer shot in the arm, another in the hand. The hand may have been the worst injury.

But three others were hurt in car crashes racing to the scene, Sean. And again, it's an ongoing situation. I don't know if you can see the bus -- the city bus back there, we just saw another city bus pull out of here with probably a dozen, maybe two dozen police officers on board, who look absolutely exhausted.

This thing has been going on for more than four hours now, and apparently, they were changing shift, they left, but they're obviously still more here.

HANNITY: All right. Rick Leventhal on the streets of Philly tonight, we will check in with Rick all throughout the hour. Rick, stand by.

Cleary, a very tense scene on the streets of North Philly tonight, all starting at 4:30 this afternoon after heavy, heavy gunfire raining down on police officers, some saying over 100 shots fired. They attempting to serve a narcotics warrant.

Now, here was the incredibly scary situation from earlier today. Let's take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All right. You got two officers shot, one shot in the head, he's up walking (ph), and the other one shot in the arm.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I heard the shooting, more than 100 rounds before all of the police was present.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shots fired coming from the second floor.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We understand they have a shooter somewhere inside this barrier. There is additional gunfire. This gunman has not yet been taken into custody.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: Tonight, our prayers are with all of these brave officers involved, those heroic men and women on the job every day. And their families, that are scared to death tonight.

Joining us with more on the developing situation, our own Trace Gallagher.

Trace, what do you have?

TRACE GALLAGHER, CORRESPONDENT: Yes, just to piggyback on Rick's reporting, Sean, it's important to get a tick-tock or timeline from police on exactly what happened, 4:30 Eastern Time is when this began. Officers were inside the home in North Philly, they were in the process of serving the narcotics warrant when I got to the back of the house, the kitchen, the gunfire erupted, and police simultaneously returned fire again and again, and then they began escaping through the windows and the doors.

The gunfire clearly went on for a while, because in the initial call, police made the dispatch asking all units to respond, you can hear dozens of shots in the background -- bang, bang, bang. Then the gunfire periodically continued for the next few hours while police tried to contact the shooter, imploring him to surrender.

Police say the suspect, as you heard, would answer the phone, but he would not speak, and they're still trying to convince him come along with a girlfriend, to negotiate by telling him that he can and back this peacefully. We say him, because police believe there is only one gunman, but they cannot confirm that.

And here's where the timeline gets a little muddy. At one point, police they officers -- and possibly handcuffed some suspects were on the second floor of the building, and the suspect was on the first floor, firing up into the ceiling, clearly aiming for police. But right now, the exact locations of both the officers and the suspects are unclear.

But the situation is still very much ongoing, and you ask the question earlier of Rick, Sean, and here's where it appears to be kind of even muddier. It appears the suspect was live streaming the standoff on Facebook, right, the police were in the process of shutting that feed off. And during the last news conference, police alluded to a potential hostage situation.

But the police officer, the chief, had to leave, and couldn't clarify whether he meant police were being pinned down, or if somebody else entirely might also be involved in this. So, some unanswered questions, even four hours after the shots rang out.

HANNITY: Trace, I do my radio show 3:00 to 6:00 Eastern, that question was out there, and a lot of ambiguity. I have not gotten a straight answer on that, we have been trying and seeking answers.

Standby, Trace Gallagher. We'll get back to you. We'll get back to Rick.

First, joining us live from Temple University Hospital is our WTXF reporter Jennifer Joyce.

Jennifer, we did hear the police commissioner. Officers are stable. What do you know from there?

JENNIFER JOYCE, WTXF REPORTER: Yes. So, we got that update from Commissioner Richard Ross about 45 minutes ago, he was very clear in saying the situation is far from over. I know you've had multiple reports on this, so I might be reentering some information that you already know.

But even Philadelphia police tweeting out that they are still working to negotiate with the suspect. The suspect who has two Philadelphia police officers holed up inside of a building with him.

As you mentioned, six Philadelphia police officers injured by gunfire with this suspect, all six are expected to be OK. Three of them are here at temple university hospital, another three are over at Einstein Medical Center.

In addition to hearing from Commissioner Ross, we heard from the mayor of Philadelphia, Jim Kenney. And he said, obviously he is very angry right now, very angry about the situation, about all of the violence. He was sharing some personal information about some of the family members of these officers, who have shown up to Temple Hospital, including two young boys who had to come here to see their dad in the hospital.

Again, thankfully, all six are expected to be OK, another variable moving into the situation, a thunderstorm. The rain actually just started to fall. We do know that it is expected to last over the next couple of hours, so it's unclear how that might impact this ongoing situation.

Back to you.

HANNITY: All right. Jennifer Joyce at the hospital tonight, we'll check back in with her throughout the evening, as well.

President Trump has been briefed. He has offered resources, all of the support necessary from the federal government.

Joining us now with more on this, our very own Catherine Herridge in Washington tonight.

Catherine, what does the president say?

CATHERINE HERRIDGE, CORRESPONDENT: Well, thanks, Sean, and good evening. Tonight, as you mentioned, President Trump has been briefed on the situation in Philadelphia, and federal agencies are providing limited support and backup with the Philadelphia police in the lead. Our contacts report both the ATF and FBI are on the scene in Philadelphia, with the ATF providing a tactical squad, and the FBI providing a SWAT team.

Based on my years of law enforcement reporting, this is the kind of federal backup and support that gives local law enforcement more latitude and more options to secure the scene and rescue those in the area who remain at risk. By example, in the last few minutes on Twitter, the Philadelphia police reporting parents can now pick up their children from a nearby day care, and three hours into the standoff, the local CBS station reporting four women were actually brought to safety from inside that house.

This remains, tonight, a very dynamic situation. Federal authorities are emphasizing to us the absolute need not to report tactical information, not to report how or where police units are operating, because that can give help to the shooter and put more lives at risk tonight, Sean.

HANNITY: All right. Catherine Herridge, thank you in Washington.

Witness reporting hearing more than 100 gunshots earlier today. Shot after shot after shot ringing out, sending everyone running for cover.

Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Be advised, multiple shots heard inside the kitchen.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I've got another officer shot.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bring it back out here Sydenham and Erie Avenue, right off of Broad and Erie, where police right now have someone hold up, at gunpoint.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On the roof.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A guy is on the roof, guys.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A guy is on the roof.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One of the cops (INAUDIBLE) had blood on him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: All right. Joining us now it is breaking news story, Fox News correspondent-at-large, Geraldo Rivera, retired NYPD detective, Pat Brosnan, Fox News contributor Ted Williams, he's a former DC police detective.

I don't want to spread information, Ted, I just want a straight answer. I want to know there is nobody in the room with him. We know he's got ammunition. We know he's got firepower.

We know he's willing to fire and kill anybody, but options are different once we know for sure he is alone in there.

TED WILLIAMS, CONTRIBUTOR: Absolutely, all of the options are there. I think we need to thank God that while six officers were shot, these are nonlife-threatening injuries. But I can tell you, and my deeper concern right now, Sean, as we speak, all three of us here -- four of us -- that he may very well be watching.

So I would like to do an echo of what the chief of police said, to this guy, if he's watching. You can end this now. And if you don't end it, and I understand there are two law enforcement officers on the second floor, if you harm those officers, you will be shot, you will be killed, they will come in.

So I'm hoping that he will listen to law enforcement, and that he will, in fact, communicate with them and give himself up. It's not too late.

HANNITY: Geraldo, you're covered way too many stories such as this, over your long and credible, nearly 50-year career. The police obviously have to take this very seriously. They want to minimize any collateral damage whatsoever in this particular case. But he is still firing at officers. Six guys already shot, our prayers with them and their families tonight.

How does this play out in your view?

GERALDO RIVERA, CORRESPONDENT AT LARGE: I think, first of all, we have to remember that Philadelphia is plagued by violence, a lot of it drug-driven. Chicago gets the rap, but statistically, Chicago and Philadelphia ranked pretty similarly at the top of the big city violent crime areas.

Nicetown, I don't mean to be unkind, it's not the nicest part of Philadelphia. I believe that what happened here was these narcotics officers were trying to serve this arrest warrant, these guys are all hyped up, big cocaine area there, huge seizures of coke earlier this year in Philly. I think that the perp may have thought it was another narcotics gang trying to break into his territory. I can't believe he just started with an AR-15, trying to take on half a dozen cops in armor coming through the door.

I think they've got the place surrounded now. They've got a great SWAT team, Philadelphia PD there. That got to contain it, make sure he doesn't use the thunderstorm and the dark of night to elude the circle that surrounds him.

Be patient, wait him out, use the girlfriend if that is what it takes, try to get him down. Get him to back off. Right now, he's got that finger on the hair trigger and is plugging away at anyone. And now, you can have thunder, you are not going to know if it's thunder or gunfire.

It's a mess in Philly, but patience. They've got the perimeter secure. Patience is what these cops need and I'm sure the chief is advising exactly that.

HANNITY: Pat, let me go to you, we know they are trying to get the suspect out peacefully, he's not cooperating. Still up until maybe even just a few minutes ago, rounds of gunfire continued to be heard. Officers repeatedly commanding, the shooter, come out with your hands up.

We know that we have feds on the ground, two narcotic strike force officers, pinned down on the floor earlier, six people shot, over 100 shots fired, so we are told by witnesses. How do you handle this?

PAT BROSNAN, RETIRED NYPD DETECTIVE: Unbelievable. What we are seeing here is very rare indeed. We are seeing both a miracle and a nightmare unfold simultaneously. The miracle is the six officers that had pointed out, no life threatening injuries, thank God.

The nightmare, unprecedented in brutality, unprecedented in savage attack, both in duration and complexity. In my time -- I was there in '86 when Larry Davis got shot, I was working that night in the Bronx, Larry Davis shot six officers. This is unbelievable. These two officers with their prisoners still at the crime scene. Unreal. Going into five hours.

And as Geraldo pointed out, to make matters unspeakably worse and more complex, we got a thunderstorm landing on it, which will add other manners of complexity to it. So, unreal. Very, very bad. Very complicated scene. And a miracle on the other side.

So, I salute Philadelphia police. I salute you guys.

HANNITY: I salute them all come too.

Ted, let's go back to you, as they do have the place surrounded. Strategically, what are the police department options at this particular point? Obviously, I think patience has got to rule the day, securing the perimeter is done.

What options are available from your professional standpoint, do they have, in your arsenal?

WILLIAMS: Well, options right now, just as Geraldo and Pat have represented, that his patience. They can wait him out as long as he is not harming anyone else. If he starts to harm, as I said, those police officers, or continue to shoot up where their safety may be a concern, they are going to go in and they are going to take him out.

But on the other hand, right now, all they have to do is to be patient, to continue to try to open up some forms of communication. It is always good to have a relative there, so they clearly know who he is. And so, that relative may very well help law enforcement to talk this guy out.

But one of the essential words here is patience. As long as no other law enforcement officers are in direct harm, then they can be patient, Sean.

HANNITY: We reported earlier tonight, and I will throw this to you, Pat, then we will get Geraldo back in, that the stun concussion grenade was used, hopefully to knock down the shooter, allow the SWAT team to get in. We have the capacity to neutralize this guy and free other people that, perhaps, we don't know, might be in the building, but that is still an unanswered question.

How dangerous is that scenario, if that plays out?

BROSNAN: Again, very rare. Very, very rare. Generally, that's the game closer.

What you have here is a rabid, mad dog killer, right, who's leveraging, most effectively, both effective cover and superior firepower. And it is a very, very dangerous mix. This guy has to be shot like a dog in a yard. He is a bad guy. And I think the negotiation phase is out the window. And this is someone who can't be negotiated with, and patience, to Ted's point, and to your point, Sean, is central and key to closing this out.

HANNITY: I agree with the patience, but I also agree, a certain bit of unpredictability. Geraldo Rivera, and maybe he is not accepting them to come in right away. But first and foremost, we have to worry about the safety of the officers, that team that will go in the room, they will all be risking their life.

RIVERA: You know, Sean, you spoke of my long career. In 1985, I covered the MOVE siege -- black liberation group, allegations with child abuse and the rest, they surrounded them. They ran out of patience at a certain point. A police helicopter was used, explosives involved, lots of casualties.

I'm sure that the institution of the Philadelphia Police Department remembers the price that they paid for running out of patience back then in that gory confrontation between the black liberation movement, the group, and the Philadelphia PD.

I think that right now, they've got this situation contained. They've got the manpower -- at some point, this dude has got to sleep. He got to nod out. At some point, he's going to --

HANNITY: Hey, Geraldo, we've been around this game way too long. This guy can break the room, the second they open the door, you know, something happens. We -- they've got to be careful. We've got to preserve every officer's life.

Stay there. Ted, stay there. Pat, stay there. Thank you all for your expertise on all this.

We want to go back to Rick Leventhal. He's on the streets in Philly. He earlier heard from the police commissioner. He updated us on the shooting.

Before we go to Rick, let's watch with the police commissioner said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROSS: We are trying to communicate to him that we want him out safely. When going as far as telling him that the officers are going to be OK and that there is nothing that we can work through. But right now, we are not successful.

There is no indication that he's trying to surrender right now. We do know he's still alive. There's no question about that, because the shots keep bringing out.

So, we are very concerned about, you know, the neighborhood. We're very concerned about our police officers. But again, we are doing everything within our power to get him to come out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: And our prayers are with these officers.

Joining us again from the ground in Philly, our own Rick Leventhal.

Rick, that is one thing I'm most concerned about. Now, with this particular shooter, who's no qualms whatsoever, morally, ethically, from shooting police officers. He is now in there alone.

LEVENTHAL: Yes.

HANNITY: What he is doing in there, what other weaponry he may have, a question that these officers can't risk if they, in fact, go into that room.

LEVENTHAL: Yes, well, and he is also doing the opposite of surrendering, as you heard from the police commissioner there. And not backing down.

Police sources are telling me that he actually piled furniture against the doors to make it tougher for the SWAT team to gain entry, which I'm told they attempted, but had to retreat because of heavy gunfire from the suspect, who sources told me was armed with an AR-15 and several handguns.

I'm also hearing now -- this from a source, Sean -- that one presenter and officers were removed from the second floor. So, apparently, those officers who were pinned down on the second floor have been able to get out. Again, this is from one source, and I haven't been able to confirm it with the Philadelphia Police Department, but my sources telling me there are two prisoners is still on the second floor and the shooter is on the first floor.

Now, we have been told that there are officers trapped inside the building who had some suspects in custody, so perhaps those officers had to leave some of those guys in the house when they got out. But they took one guy with them. The two officers pinned down got out, now the suspect is still inside on the first floor --

HANNITY: Rick, if I may --

LEVENTHAL: -- armed with an AR-15 and several handguns. Go ahead.

HANNITY: If I may, that's what I had heard. Again, I couldn't confirm it, but I had one report that there were people left behind for a period, and I don't know -- I've not gotten a full answer or confirmation, if they got everybody out.

And then, of course, you've got to worry if this guy is rigging some type of tripwire. If, in fact, officers do break down the door and head into that room, are they heading into a potential death trap for them?

LEVENTHAL: Well, he has a tremendous amount of resistance and has been firing on them on and off since 4:30 this afternoon, and it is not raining here. We are hearing thunder, which may have been what we thought were gunshots a short time ago. But the weather doesn't help the officers who are out on the streets trying to deal with this ongoing situation.

As you heard the commissioner say, they are trying to negotiate with him. They have a bullhorn. They've also been calling his cell phone.

But as we reported earlier, Sean, this guy has apparently been live streaming at least some of the ongoing situation from inside that residence. That is not the act of someone who is ready to give up. It could be a very long night for these Philadelphia police officers, and also ATF on scene. We saw some heavily armed and heavily jacketed officers, also some canines are out here.

And, you know, there's a command post set up at the corner of Broad and Erie. These guys are hunkered down, and they are talking to each other, and they're trying to talk to the suspect, but shows no sign, at least yet, of ending anytime soon, Sean.

HANNITY: Rick, last question, are we confident that neighboring and adjacent homes have all been evacuated successfully?

LEVENTHAL: We know that they were in the process of doing that. We have seen a lot of residents out on the street. A lot of them are unhappy. There seems to be a lot of tension in the neighborhood right now.

As far as we know, we know people have gotten out, and we know that the Philadelphia police warning people to stay away, stay away from this area here in North Philadelphia. The Tiago-Nicetown area as long as this keeps going on.

HANNITY: All right. Rick Leventhal, he's on the ground in Philly for us tonight. We'll get back to Rick in a few minutes.

Now, today, as bullets were raining down on this Philadelphia neighborhood, as brave police officers rushed toward the sound of gunfire, many on the left -- as it is unfolding -- were literally trying to use what was a live, active, ongoing shooting situation to score cheap political points. This is not a political night for me.

For example, I just want to give you one example of how sick things have gotten on the political side of things. At 5:26 in the afternoon, an hour, less than an hour into all of this, police officers ducking for cover, running and returning fire, well, we have one 2020 hopeful, Kamala Harris come on fake news CNN, literally, that second, not even an hour into this, exploiting the shootout for political gain.

This is all politics (ph). This can't happen in this country, but it did. Let's watch it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: What's your reaction to these initial reports, and I stress the word initial reports?

SEN. KAMALA HARRIS, D-CALIF., PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, it's just -- when will it stop, right? I mean, part of my focus on what we need to do around guns -- smart gun safety laws, is recognize that we have to have more enforcement around the gun dealers. Wolf, 90 percent of the guns that are associated with crime are sold by just 5 percent of the gun dealers in the United States.

And so, among the many plans that I have, both in the form of executive action, and also in the form of legislation, one of them is to put more resources into the ATF, to take licensed gun dealers who violate the law.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: She knows nothing about this, but maybe my gun control could have stopped that. Wow. That is spectacularly inane and insane to me, will politicize a tragedy in the middle of a tragedy. That can't happen.

Now, that was literally 10 minutes after fake news CNN reported the actual shooting. Kamala Harris playing politics, politicizing a tragedy again.

We will move on. Congressman Julian Castro rushed to Twitter to shame Americans who don't support gun control, knowing nothing about this.

Same with Kirsten Gillibrand, polling at zero percent, well, she just blamed the NRA, knowing nothing.

And joining us with reaction is author of the upcoming book, "Radicals, Resistance, Revenge," she is the host of "Justice", the number one show Saturday night right here on the Fox News Channel, Jeanine Pirro. Also with us, "Fox and Friends" weekend co-host, also a veteran in his own right, Pete Hegseth. And former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi.

Pam, let's go at this from a law enforcement standpoint. There are a lot of traps, dangers that still exist for these guys, not knowing what they may be walking into, except they know they'll be walking into a guy that has full confidence and an ability and a desire to kill police officers.

PAM BONDI, FORMER FLORIDA ATTORNEY GENERAL: That's right, Sean. And it's ludicrous to be talking about anything other than that right now, when everyone should be talking about, what you are talking about -- de- escalation of the horrible situation going on, the rapid response by police officers, and bringing this to a peaceful resolution. That's what should matter.

And that's what I've seen in my career over and over and over, and these drug deals gone bad, or when they go to serve warrants, and you end up with some bad guy -- this is about a bad guy trying to hurt police officers, and that's all anybody should be talking about tonight, just like you are. Thank you.

HANNITY: Pete, your years of service, we watched in Iraq and Afghanistan, time after time, on a daily basis, our brave men and women walking into situations, they don't know what is on the other side of that door. I would assume that our police department in Philly, they've got some great people that they understand that this guy is capable of anything, including if he wants to sleep, setting up some type of trap for these guys, or a trip wire that could be dangerous for anybody that walks into that room.

PETE HEGSETH, HOST: Of course, you've got a plan, Sean for the enemies most dangerous course of action. In this case, you've got a guy holed up. He's got nothing to lose. These men and women who put the badge on every morning. They don't know what kind of day they're going to have.

Today, they've got an active shooter situation. A drug bust gone bad, six of their fellow men in blue shot. They're going to do everything they need to do in that to come home safe themselves to deal with the situation and to spend a moment on live television to speculate otherwise is the heart of your responsibility.

There is no - you've done more live television than I have Sean. But on Fox and Friends in the mornings sometimes we'll go three or four hours wall to wall on new information. And the last thing you do is speculate about the politics of the moment for your own personal gain.

You stand by the facts and the information and the people doing the brave things that most people won't do to keep us safe. And you don't make it about politics, Sean. And in this case for Kamala Harris or anyone else to jump to that. Listen, she's chameleon Kamala, she'll go with whatever moment she needs on any topic she needs to benefit herself. In this case, it's reckless. And for - we're all thinking about the Philadelphia PD right now.

HANNITY: It just took my breath away. It was less than an hour into the whole thing. She knows nothing as everybody else knows nothing. And it was Castro and it was Gillibrand sadly too predictable.

We saw this, Judge Pirro also with what happened in El Paso and Dayton and fund raising letters, wow. Families didn't even pick out burial plots or coffins. But let's stay on the criminal justice side of this.

JEANINE PIRRO, HOST: OK.

HANNITY: What these brave cops in Philly are now facing tonight and the strategies that they will have to employ to safely ensure the safety of their officers as they do their difficult duty tonight.

PIRRO: Well listen, make no mistake Sean that these police understand what they're confronted with. I'm sure that they've got in addition to SWAT teams, I mean they've got hostage negotiators. But they also understand that they are dealing with as Pete just said someone who's got nothing to lose.

He knows six police are shot. I don't know if he knows how badly they're shot. And what we've got to do in situations like this and I've had situations like this, it is not as bad as this but where you've got someone who's got nothing to lose who's already got an arrest warrant for drunk charges who has been shooting people and now he's got people in the building who can't get out because he's there, everything is at stake here.

And I've got to comment Sean, Kamala Harris has shown just how small she is along with the Democrats to talk about gun control. She is specially a former district attorney should understand, you don't know the facts, you don't know the risk. You're only speculating. You don't know what you're talking about. And to not be concerned about police, victims, the public at large and she's concerned about gun control because she wants to be the President, they are so small, they're not worth talking about.

HANNITY: You know what I worry about in this situation, I'll ask all three of you, exit question Pam, I'll begin with you is what the unknown here, I'd like to know that this guy doesn't have anybody in that room. We haven't gotten an affirmative on that. I'd like to know that there aren't people in the building, in other parts of the building that are held up in that building. That question I'd like to know and I'm certain that the police know a lot more than we do.

BONDI: And they should know more than we do and that's why they're not reporting it, because of course the bad guy has access probably to a TV.

Also, Sean I've been to sadly many scenes like this with active ongoing shooters held up and our police don't think of themselves for one second. They are thinking about deescalating the situation. All of our great men and women in uniform, the FBI is there now helping ATF. They're helping probably DEA if it was a drug deal. All of our agencies, they work together to help all of us and deescalate this situation and that's what we're all doing tonight. Thanking them and we will pray for them and we will be--

HANNITY: Listen, I've got to tell you. There are guys at some point in the next however many minutes or hours that are going to be putting their life on the line.

BONDI: They are.

HEGSETH: That's it. Sean, the only gun I care about tonight is the gun our law enforcement are carrying to go out and deal with this guy to keep that community safe. That's what we should be focusing on tonight.

HANNITY: Bingo.

PIRRO: And focus on the fact that they are working together toward a common goal. This is when law enforcement is at its best. Thank God for them.

HANNITY: That's why they wear - that's why they carry a gun every day. That's why irresponsible reckless comments and rushing to judgment when they're a high profile case.

PIRRO: Disgusting.

HANNITY: Yes, it's pretty despicable and what, by the way, Elizabeth Warren and Kamala Harris tweeted about Michael Brown. That too was despicable. When we come back. Thank you all. We'll go live back to Philadelphia. We'll get an update on this standoff. Also breaking news that we'll rock the deep state. We have new evidence and proof tonight that Nellie Ohr was in fact providing her husband Bruce Ohr, the number four man at the DOJ and Biden Obama with constant updates, full of lies, lies we haven't even heard about, about the dirty Clinton paid for Russian dossier. That more, straight ahead. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HANNITY: All right, just breaking. We go back to Rick Leventhal. He's in Philly tonight with some breaking news. Rick.

RICK LEVENTHAL, CORRESPONDENT: Well, a couple of things are happening as we speak, Sean. I've got information from a police source that in fact they had gotten everyone out of the building, except the gunman. So, the officers who were pinned down on the second floor and the prisoners who were in those officer's custody have apparently all left the building, they got out, but the gunman I was told was still in the building.

The police tweeted a short time ago to confirm that in fact the officers had exited the building that everyone was out of the building except the gunman and now we're hearing some reports that this thing could be resolved shortly, or maybe resolved, but I don't have that Sean confirmed. But I do have confirmed--

HANNITY: Rick, if I may.

LEVENTHAL: From my sources, is that the people in the building are out, except the gunman.

HANNITY: Rick, how long ago were they out. And can you confirm now 100 percent that everybody is out of danger, out of the building meaning residents' police alike.

LEVENTHAL: Well, what I can tell you is, I was told - I've got the text 15 minutes ago that the prisoners were removed from the second floor and the officers were out, but the shooter was still on the first floor. So that was 15 minutes ago and apparently Philly police have now confirmed it in a tweet which I don't see right now.

HANNITY: OK. Do you want to look at a tweet or do you want a tweet?

LEVENTHAL: Well, I don't have it handy.

HANNITY: All right, I'll tell you what. Standby.

LEVENTHAL: The last report, the gunman was still in the building.

HANNITY: I'll come back to you in about a minute, stay right there. Joining us also live from Temple University Hospital. This is where the six police officers were taken, FOX WTXF reporter Jennifer Joyce back with us. Jennifer, what's the update there.

JENNIFER JOYCE, CORRESPONDENT: Good evening. And we are hearing exactly what Rick Leventhal reported that the two officers have been safely removed by Philadelphia Police Department, SWAT team. However, the gunman is still inside that building.

I have more good news to report since we last talked with you about 30 minutes ago. Now two of the injured police officers here at Temple have been released. It was a short time ago, it happened on the other side of the hospital. One of our photographers was able to capture the moment first.

One of the injured officers, he had bandages on both of his arms. He walked out of the hospital and all of his fellow officers' men and women in blue standing by to salute him. Then just minutes ago, the second officer, the one that had a graze wound to the head was also released from the hospital.

We had been reporting all afternoon and evening that it was six police officers who were shot but all of them were suffering non-life threatening injuries, so perhaps we will continue to see these officers be released one-by-one.

There is only one officer still here inside of Temple. There were three additional officers undergoing treatment at Einstein Medical Center all while this situation is still unfolding. Less than a half a mile from where I'm standing.

HANNITY: All right, Jennifer Joyce, if we can rack and load and turnaround that video, we'd love to show it to our audience. Standing by at that hospital tonight. Thank you so much. That's great news, two of the officers now have left the hospital. Minor injuries. Thank God in the case of all of them. We expect all of them to survive as of this hour.

We go back to our own Rick Leventhal who was just breaking some new news that in fact 15 minutes ago, Rick, officers, two of them that were left remaining in the building. And what one civilian removed?

LEVENTHAL: OK. So, just to remind our viewers Sean that this was a narcotics interdiction operation. These officers had entered the residence and there were officers on the second floor of the residents apparently when the shooting started. The gunman with an AR 15 opens fire, several officers are jumping out windows to escape. Six are wounded as you've been reporting. And there were two pinned down upstairs and apparently there were other suspects with those two officers pinned down.

People who they had taken into custody as part of this narcotics interdiction operation. So, according to my law enforcement source and Philadelphia police have now tweeted out, they confirm it. Those two officers who were on the second floor, who were pinned down by gunfire have gotten out of the building along with the prisoners. So, all of the people who were trapped in the house aside from the gunman have gotten out.

As far as we know, the gunman is still barricaded inside on the first floor of that building. I was told he had put furniture up against the doors and when the SWAT team tried to make entrance, they had to retreat because of the heavy fire coming from the suspect who were told is armed with an AR 15 and several handguns.

So, as far as we know he's not given up. The police have been trying to negotiate with him. He's not backing down, but everyone who was trapped on the second floor of that building we're told has now gotten out of the building.

HANNITY: That has been my fear Rick most of the afternoon as I was covering this live on radio and that was that just 15 minutes ago that these people were still in the building where this gunman was and they were able to successfully - the police that were in there with those people in custody get them all out. And that just happened.

That's great news also on top of the two officers. We know they left the hospital. Rick Leventhal standby in Philly with us tonight.

First joining us more on this breaking news, Fox News Correspondent Geraldo Rivera retired NYPD Detective Pat Brosnan and Fox News Contributor, Ted Williams. He's a former D.C. Police Detective. Geraldo that had been my fear and I knew, my gut was telling me we're not getting that answer. And I just instinctively felt that there were people still in that building. Thank God, they just got out.

GERALDO RIVERA, CORRESPONDENT: Not only is there the fear - did we have the fear for the people inside the building, Sean. Remember that there is the daycare center right across the street from this building. So, here's a guy with a long gun, an AR 15. He's popping, he's popping away. There are little babies at the daycare center right across the street. I mean it reminded me, I had this awful sick feeling in my stomach, it reminded me of the Oklahoma City bombing when we discovered that in the Mora building, you had that - yes that daycare center. Those children were killed.

This is the wanton disregard, the recklessness of this person. And you know if I may just very briefly on this whole issue of gun control. There is no way that this perp bought that AR 15 legally. In other words, you can have all the background checks and red flag and believe me I endorse them heartily in the world. They wouldn't have stopped this guy, this knucklehead is a criminal, he's a drug dealer. He was being served.

We think this warrant from the narcotics cops, there's no way he went to a gun store and purchased an AR 15. So, I don't think that gun control is relevant to the current discussion even if it was appropriate to bring up a political issue, so close with the incidents--

HANNITY: No, it's not while an active shooting is going on, Geraldo and not when you don't know a single thing about what has happened in this case which is you know, and you know what not be raising money for political campaigns of both, of shooting and exploiting tragedy for some type of political gain on your part.

Let me go back to Ted Williams Ted, my fear has been all day that there were still people in that building. It turns out my fears were warranted. Thankfully, not only the cops get out, but the people that they had taken prisoner got out with them, which is going to now open up more options as I suspected the options of the police on the outside were limited if in fact people were still in the building. Now that those people have been removed from the building assuming nobody else is in there, their options now have multiplied by a factor of a thousand.

TED WILLIAMS, CONTRIBUTOR: Absolutely Sean. As long as those police officers lest have been on the second floor in harm's way, there were exigent circumstances that existed here, and law enforcement officers were definitely going to protect one or two of their own.

Now under the circumstances that you now only have a barricade situation with this one alleged shooter there in that home, they can do what Geraldo and Pat has said earlier and that is they can certainly wait this person out. But let me also say this very quickly, I don't get into the political minutia about guns and all of this, but law enforcement officers in this country really feel that they outgun, law enforcement officers normally will carry a Glock 9 millimeter. And when you've got somebody with an AR 15 rifle and I'm sure that Geraldo is right that this was not legally purchased that this was illegally out there.

This is the kind of firepower that law enforcement officers are deeply, deeply concerned about.

HANNITY: And Pat as we had discussed prior, this was the situation we feared the most. Now it seems to be resolved assuming everybody else is out of the building. What does that do for the police officers now in terms of dealing with this guy barricaded up in one room. Their options I think as Ted degrees, seemingly agrees it goes up by a thousand percent.

PAT BROSNAN, FORMER NYPD DIRECTOR: I agree a thousand percent. And however, you know the ultimate irony here just as a side note is that the prisoners whose criminal behavior caused this entire nightmare to unfold, we're now being protected by the arresting officers.

HANNITY: How ironic, right?

BROSNAN: It's unbelievably ironic. And again, an absolute illustration of the commitment and loyalty to service and protection of life, even prisoners because that as you very succinctly pointed out was one of the reasons why they didn't bum rush the building.

So, all the options are on the table now. Once the police and the--

HANNITY: Should be on the table. You're right.

BROSNAN: 1000 percent.

HANNITY: And Geraldo, I know this may sound callous in the minds of some liberal people but assuming he's alone in there. I'm not against our guys doing what they need to do because whatever information they would probably get from him they're going to get from the three people they took out with them 15 minutes ago.

RIVERA: Oh, please trust me. If it was up to me, I would shoot him dead the minute I had him in my sights.

HANNITY: Geraldo, I know you would have invaded the building by yourself. I know you.

RIVERA: I might do that. No, but I think that there is no need though. That's the - just look, we care about the cops. Now, our sole constituents are the officers surrounding that building. Those are the people that we love. Those are the people that we want. They serve us. They protect us. And you want the best thing for them. I'm just from combat.

Now you've got an isolated shooter. He's only got a - he can't have all the ammo in the world. He can't stay up forever. He's got to sleep at some point. Wait him out. 5 o'clock in the morning, 6 o'clock in the morning. You know keep him up. Play music, do something so he can't sleep. You know be patient, wait, wait. Have people infiltrating it into as close as possible maybe a sniper--

HANNITY: I know Geraldo. Geraldo?

RIVERA: Get a shot.

(CROSSTALK)

HANNITY: We don't know what else he has in there. We don't know if he set a trip wire.

(CROSSTALK)

WILLIAMS: You don't go in. That's the reason you don't go in. You don't now have to risk the safety of the officers.

HANNITY: Bingo.

WILLIAMS: You can just wave his butt out. You can play like I said, the loud music that Geraldo say maybe give him some Luther Brand or something. I don't care but just wait him out.

RIVERA: Barry Manilow.

HANNITY: All right. What decade are we in here? All right. But with all due respect, we have options, and this is more important to people that are going to eventually have to extricate this guy at some point under whatever circumstances unfold. We've got to now protect them first and foremost. That means the odds of this guy coming out alive have now greatly been reduced in my opinion and it's not that they wouldn't want to take him alive, they've given him every opportunity to put his hands up and come out, Pat.

But I'm not willing to let police officers on the great department of Philadelphia go in that room where we don't have a clue what they have in there.

BROSNAN: Well, I'll tell you I'm not a big betting man Sean, but I would say that his time is very, very limited. Breathing this free air in and out. He's cooked, his goose is cooked as Geraldo pointed out. They're going to ultimately figure out how to bum rush that apartment he's in on the first floor and crush them and take him out with the gun fire just like the rabid dog that he is. And that's what's going to happen here.

It's not going to end pretty at all. I don't know if it's going to be 5 AM or 3 AM or 1 AM, but it will be merciless, and it will be executed with precision and they'll be cognizant of trip wires. But this guy has to stop. He has an extraordinary amount of ammunition. He has a highly unusual tenacity and commitment to his twisted mission, but ultimately, he's a coward and he's a punk. And he does not want to be in a wheelchair in prison and shoot it out with these cops and they take him alive. And that's why they kill themselves time and time again. So, it may end that way. But either way. He's cooked.

HANNITY: Do you agree with that Ted Williams.

WILLIAMS: I love Pat. I believe what you're going to find a strategy is for him just to wait at least until between now and tomorrow before they will bum rush, or bull rush in because as you've said there may be some trip wires in there and not only then put in your own law enforcement officers in danger by them having to go in there when it is unnecessary. This little guy. He's a human being. Or sooner or later and he may be the scourge of earth--

HANNITY: Hang on a second.

WILLIAMS: But I have a feeling that--

HANNITY: The police commissioner is now about to speak. Let's go to this press conference.

RICHARD ROSS JR., PHILADELPHIA POLICE COMMISSIONER: Update, when I say update because it's not completely resolved but I think you've been informed that SWAT was able to successfully extract the two police officers that were trapped upstairs as well as three prisoners. They were all taken out safely thus far.

However, this male is still holed up inside here. We're talking to him for one of the first times. Basically, no more than 30 or 40 minutes ago, making a little bit of progress. It appeared that his attorney was on a three way line, he was trying to assure him that you know we weren't here to harm him, but after that the conversation ceased. But we do know that he's still alive.

I'm just trying to assure him that we weren't here to harm him, but after that conversation ceased. But we do know that he's still alive. I'm just trying to appeal to him you know that he's got a reason that he needs to come out and surrender. Right now, we've gone from a hostage situation to a barricade, because all of the hostages were taken out safely and I can't say enough about what all the responders did.

But most importantly, what SWAT did and all their support, Homeland Security and everyone there that was involved as well as everyone that assisted in negotiations. But again, we still got a situation that is not completely resolved. We still want to get this male obviously unscathed. We don't know if he's injured. And my conversations with him, it doesn't appear that he is, but I'm not sure.

So, we will keep you apprised but didn't want to keep you in the dark about where we were and have you - just have to speculate about the status regarding the police officers and the hostages. We are very, very lucky with six police officers shot in one incident. It is remarkable that I believe a couple of them have been released already. And so, it is nothing short of astounding that in such a confined space that we didn't have more of a tragedy than we did.

So, we're so thankful that they were able to get out. We were able to get the other folks out. The prisoners that were in there are also unharmed. And I don't even know miraculously how that happened because there were multiple gunshots fired. He fired shots while I was on location. He hasn't done so in a while. So, we're optimistic that means he's starting to understand that you know there's some benefit to him coming out and surrendering.

But we still don't know if that's going to be the case. So, I'm in a better position to take some more questions right now than I was before because our people around there and they'll keep me updated as we go forward.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Inaudible).

ROSS JR.: I mean--

HANNITY: Let me step in here that is Commissioner Richard Ross Jr., the Philadelphia Police Department. What he has just confirmed is up until about 15, 20 minutes ago. Rick Leventhal breaking it first here on Fox. This situation was far worse and far more precarious than anybody in the public knew as in fact some police officers and suspects that they had in custody were in the building up until about well 20 minutes ago.

HANNITY: All right. This is the police commissioner of Philadelphia talking about really a miraculous outcome in spite of six officers being shot. We expect a full recovery for all six, two have already been released.

What we just learned though is the more amazing fact in all of this and that is the situation that they have been dealing with since around 4:30 Eastern Time this afternoon was far worse, far more precarious than anybody had known at the time. And in fact, police officers that had other suspects in custody were in that building up until 20 minutes ago.

And in fact, first contact with the one remaining suspect was established about 40 minutes ago. We'll have the latest on the Fox News Channel. Thank God. Our thoughts and prayers with these officers -- what they do every day is amazing. They fight for us to protect and serve us. Jesse Watters in for Laura tonight.

Jesse, take it away.

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