Maurice Hill: Philly shooting suspect charged with attempted murder, and more
Beginning around 4:30 p.m. on August 14, Philadelphia Police Officers became embroiled in a heavy gunfire standoff in North Philly’s Nicetown-Tioga area. The standoff began when police tried serving a narcotics warrant to residents inside a row home in the neighborhood. The standoff lasted until after midnight. When it was all over, six Philadelphia Police Officers had been shot.
Another officer was also injured in a car crash while responding to the standoff, according to NBC News in Philadelphia. Police finally used tear gas to end the shooting and arrest the 36-year-old shooter, Maurice Hill. Two police officers and three civilians were stuck, barricaded in the house with Hill during the standoff and were all safely evacuated following Hill’s arrest.
Yesterday, August 17, Hill had a preliminary arraignment and was charged with attempted murder; and he was also denied bail. CNN shared that Hill’s charges include multiple counts of aggravated assault and assault of a law enforcement officer, reckless endangerment, gun possession and drug conspiracy. Formal charges against Hill and four others arrested will be announced by the Philadelphia District Attorney’s office on August 19.
The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that at his video arraignment, Hill sat with arms crossed and head down, responding “I guess” when asked whether he understood the charges. Of the four other men charged with drug offenses along with Hill, two of them were among those trapped in the row home during the hourslong shooting standoff, according to ABC News.
Philadelphia Police Commissioner Richard Ross has expressed amazement that the standoff ended with no one dead and no life-threatening injuries, despite the gunman firing over 100 rounds.
The six officers who were struck by gunfire were released after being treated at hospitals Wednesday night.
Police recovered a semi-automatic rifle and a handgun after arresting Hill, who has an extensive criminal record dating back to 2001 which includes multiple arrests in Pennsylvania and Delaware. He has been convicted on charges that include assault, perjury, fleeing and eluding, escape and weapons offenses.
He served two stints in state prisons — three, counting a return for a probation violation. He was sentenced to 55 months in federal prison term over a pair of convictions for being a felon in possession of firearms. ~ ABC News
Hill has a preliminary hearing scheduled for September 5.
For more on the August 14 Philadelphia shooting and the charges now facing Maurice Hill, see the video accompanying this article.
~ Written by Richard Webster, Ace News Today / Connect with Richard on Facebook and Twitter
