Eight-hour standoff in Philadelphia leaves six officers wounded
Suspect in Philadelphia shootout leaving six officers injured has a long rap sheet, former Fairfield, Connecticut Police Chief Gary MacNamara and former assistant district attorney Phillip Holloway weigh in.
Philadelphia Police Thursday identified the six officers who were wounded the day before in a harrowing shootout that lasted more than seven hours.
Joshua Burkitt, 26, a two-year veteran, was shot in the left hand. Michael Guinter, 32, a 12-year veteran, was shot in both arms. Shaun Parker, 32, an 11-year veteran, suffered a graze wound to the head. Nathaniel Harper, 43, a 19-year veteran, was shot in the left leg. Ryan Waltman, 42, a 12-year veteran, was shot in the right hand. Justin Matthews, 31, a 3-year veteran sustained a graze wound to the left leg.
All six officers were treated and released from local hospitals Wednesday night.
PHILADELPHIA STANDOFF: POLICE DISPATCH AUDIO REVEALS TENSE MOMENTS DURING HOURS-LONG ORDEAL
The standoff began Wednesday when officers attempted to serve a drug warrant, and ended shortly after midnight Thursday when the suspect suffered after firing more than 100 rounds.
The suspect was identified by Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner as Maurice Hill, 36. Krasner said Hill had an extensive criminal history, including drug, gun and robbery charges. Krasner said Hill should not have been on the streets but stopped short of saying there was any specific failure by law enforcement.
“I think it’s fair to say the criminal justice system, imperfect as it is, did not stop this terrible incident,” he told reporters at a news conference Thursday.
PHILADELPHIA POLICE SHOOTING SUSPECT HAS 'EXTENSIVE' CRIMINAL HISTORY, POLICE SAY
Pennsylvania prison officials said a man with the same name and date of birth served about 2½ years on drug charges before being paroled in 2006 and served more than a year for aggravated assault and before being released in 2013.
State court online court records indicate that man had multiple arrests in Philadelphia and adjacent Delaware County between 2001 and 2012, producing convictions for crimes including perjury, fleeing and eluding, escape and weapons offenses.
U.S. Attorney William McSwain told reporters that Hill was prohibited from possessing firearms because of past convictions.
Hill’s lawyer, Shaka Johnson, said Hill called him during the standoff asking for help surrendering. Johnson then called Krasner, and the two men 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.
President Trump weighed in on the shootout Thursday morning, saying the gunman “should never have been allowed to be on the streets.”
“He had a long and very dangerous criminal record,” he wrote in the tweet. “Looked like he was having a good time after his capture, and after wounding so many police. Long sentence — must get much tougher on street crime!”
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McSwain said Thursday that the standoff was precipitated by a disrespect for law enforcement that the district attorney Krasner is championing.
“This vile rhetoric puts our police in danger,” McSwain said, adding that Krasner “routinely calls police and prosecutors corrupt and racist.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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