After a standoff in a Philadelphia rowhouse of more than seven hours during which six police officers were shot and wounded, sustaining non-life-threatening injuries, suspect Maurice Hill finally surrendered after teargas was fired into the building.
The incident began after a Narcotics Strike Force unit attempted to serve a search warrant at the house at about 4:30 pm on Wednesday.
Hill’s adult rap begins in 2001 at the age of 18 when he was arrested for possession of a firearm with an altered serial number. Since then, he’s been arrested about a dozen times, with six convictions involving illegal possession of guns, drug dealing, and aggravated assault, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The longest prison sentence he was given was 55 months in 2010.
Second Amendment opponents are of course trying to use this lifelong criminal’s latest crime as rationale for more gun control. Yep, just one more law would have surely kept him from shooting up his neighborhood.
Reports indicate that Hill has a long history of drug and gun convictions, as well as resisting arrest.
Over 100 shots were fired from the home during the standoff. Two officers and three prisoners were trapped in the building before being rescued two hours before the shooter gave himself up to police.
The Philadelphia Inquirer reported:
Two Narcotics Strike Force bicycle officers were pinned on the second floor with three other people who were handcuffed, police said. The officers were not injured but they and the three people in custody were at risk of getting shot because the suspect on the first floor was firing into the ceiling. A SWAT team reached the five and removed from the building about 2 ½ hours before the suspect surrendered.
None of the six officers who were shot suffered life-threatening injuries and all were treated at hospitals and released, police said. At least three other officers sustained non-shooting injuries during the standoff. The gunman was briefly hospitalized, then jailed, after the standoff.
After his arrest, Hill was taken to nearby Temple University Hospital to be treated for teargas exposure.
JUST IN: The suspected gunman, identified as Maurice Hill, has been released from Temple University Hospital where he was taken for evaluation after surrendering to authorities just after midnight Thursday. https://t.co/2tXYAibWtJ pic.twitter.com/wAwe4SFJsH
— Action News on 6abc (@6abc) August 15, 2019
In 2008, he was convicted of escaping, fleeing from police, and resisting arrest. He has beaten charges on everything from kidnapping to attempted murder.
Attorney Shaka Johnson told the Inquirer at about 9:30 pm, “My client is requesting me to come to the scene.”
For several hours, police attempted to negotiate with Hill via phone calls and bullhorns, before the standoff ended at about midnight.
After Hill was taken into custody, Johnson said in an interview with CBS3 that Hill called him at 8:30 “in a panic.”
“I told him, ‘you gotta surrender, man,’” the attorney said. He added that he has known Hill for about 10 years.
The attorney voiced his appreciation for how the standoff was handled by police. “Commissioner Ross could have pushed a button” earlier to end the standoff violently, but he did not. “Let’s be clear. The police did an awesome job today,” said Johnson.
“It is nothing short of remarkable in such a confined space, that we didn’t have more of a tragedy than we did,” said Police Commissioner Richard Ross. Officers who were serving an arrest warrant at the house were met with gunfire almost immediately, he said. “It’s nothing short of a miracle that we don’t have multiple officers killed today,” Ross said.
As for those who want more gun control, well, never let a good atrocity go to waste:
So a criminal who wasn’t allowed to possess guns actually has them and using them to commit crimes….tell me how new gun laws will prevent this?
— Professor Chaos (@superma56601394) August 15, 2019
But felons can’t get guns
— joe malone (@joemalone9) August 15, 2019
Well I mean … you know… If you just make more laws… They’ll eventually … follow the laws.
— Laura (@NonsenseEnd) August 15, 2019
So why should law abiding citizens be punished if the punishments don’t even work on the criminals?
— Hoes Mad @Mike?? (@kicks_n_pups) August 15, 2019
Why aren’t all the background checks and gun laws not working? pic.twitter.com/1zFAxcArO9
— D. John Hughes ↗️ (@Down_2_Tweet) August 15, 2019
Watch this MSNBC report from the scene before Hill’s surrender …
Video by MSNBC
DONATE TO BIZPAC REVIEW
Please help us! If you are fed up with letting radical big tech execs, phony fact-checkers, tyrannical liberals and a lying mainstream media have unprecedented power over your news please consider making a donation to BPR to help us fight them. Now is the time. Truth has never been more critical!
[email protected]
Victor Rantala is an Army vet who lives in Minnesota, he is a former intelligence analyst and business owner, and is an NRA Life member who is officially retired but has yet to slow his roll.
- NJ school teacher yells at students she hopes they die ‘painful death’ from coronavirus for playing at park - April 27, 2020
- Trump’s briefing-alternative included bold counteroffensive: ‘No respect for people running Fox News’ - April 27, 2020
- Candace Owens questions next moves in COVID19 strategy: ‘None of this makes any sense’ - April 26, 2020
Comment
We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.
BPR INSIDER COMMENTS
Scroll down for non-member comments or join our insider conversations by becoming a member. We'd love to have you!
