Crowd Taunts Philadelphia Police Officers During Gunfire Standoff

UPDATE: Suspect surrendered to police shortly after 12 a.m. Thursday. The suspect’s attorney has identified the alleged gunman as 36-year-old Maurice Hill.

While Philadelphia police officers were dealing with a gunman who shot six of their own during a standoff at a home in the Nicetown-Tioga section, cops also had to deal with being taunted by some bystanders. A crowd of people laughed and yelled at officers in the midst of gunfire during a standoff on Wednesday.

Police say officers were serving a narcotics warrant on the 3700 block of North 15th Street around 4:30 p.m. when the suspect opened fire. As police exchanged gunfire, officers escaped through windows and doors.

Six officers were shot and transported to local hospitals. The officers have since been released.

From 4:30 p.m. until 8 p.m., gunfire did not cease for more than 40 minutes at a time. For some, the near constant sound of shots felt like nothing more than a reality of where they live, and for others it brought back memories of a war zone.

[Tweet “It’s unsafe, but this is the hood. This is what we live with everyday, one woman said.”]

Sources said that the scene was sheer chaos as officers were taking fire and that the suspect was live-streaming some of the shootout while he barricaded himself inside the home.

Police say the gunman surrendered and was taken into custody shortly after midnight.