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Police In Standoff With Barricaded Shooter Who Wounded 6 Philadelphia Officers

(CNN) — Police say they are talking by phone to an armed man who has been barricaded inside a row house for hours, after he shot six officers Wednesday. P...
KYW Shooting in Philadelphia

(CNN) — Police say they are talking by phone to an armed man who has been barricaded inside a row house for hours, after he shot six officers Wednesday. Police Commissioner Richard Ross Jr. and an attorney were on the call.

Two officers who were trapped by the gunfire were evacuated by SWAT officers.

Here’s what we know:

How it started

The shooting began when authorities attempted to serve a warrant at about 4:30 p.m. ET in the Nicetown-Tiago neighborhood, in the 3700 block of North 15th Street, Ross told reporters during a news briefing Wednesday night.

“This was a narcotics warrant that went awry almost immediately,” Ross said.

Where it’s happening

Officers were in different parts of the house when the shooting began, Ross said, adding that’s how two officers and three others got trapped in the house.

All five were evacuated by SWAT officers after nightfall, Ross said.

SWAT officers used “stealth to do it,” and it’s believed they did it without the shooter knowing they were in the house, Ross said.

“We’ve gone from a hostage situation to a barricade because all of the hostages were taken out safely, ” he said.

The suspect

The shooter has been firing intermittently at police since the standoff began.

Authorities have not identified the suspect, saying only that he’s male.

After hours of ignoring efforts by police to communicate, the man’s attorney and Ross got on a call with him to try to assure him police were not going to harm him.

“We don’t know if he’s injured. In my conversation with him, it doesn’t appear that he is,” Ross said. “But I’m not sure.”

The suspect also appears to have stopped firing at police.

“We’re optimistic that means that he’s starting to understand that there’s some benefit of him coming out and surrendering,” Ross said.

The wounded officers

Six police officers have been shot, the police commissioner said.

A bullet grazed one officer in the head, Ross said. None of the officers have life-threatening injuries and “everybody is going to be okay,” he said.

The officers, who were not immediately identified, were taken to two area hospitals and later released, Ross said.

Mayor Jim Kenney said he spoke with the officers.

“I had the opportunity to speak to the six officers, they’re all in good spirits and obviously it was a very traumatic experience for them,” he said. “I was talking to one of the officers who had the graze wound to the head and he had two little boys — they looked like they were 9 or 10 years old, 8 or 9 years old — and kept on thinking about how their lives would have changed with just a little more difference in space.”

Kenney said the immediate concern was for the officers and their families. But once the shooting is over and the officers have been cared for, he said there will be questions about someone “having all that weaponry and all that firepower.”

Precautions taken

A day care center and a learning center near the house were evacuated, police said.

Parents whose children were at the Shake, Rattle & Roll Learning Center and the Precious Babies day care were asked to go to a 3643 Germantown Avenue, where they will be united, Gripp said.

Nearby streets were being evacuated, police said.

Temple University lifted a hours-long lockdown on its Health Sciences Center, about two miles from the standoff.

But it warned its faculty, staff and students to steer clear of the neighborhood where the standoff was taking place, according to a tweet from the university.

What people are saying

President Donald Trump has been briefed on the shooting and is monitoring the situation, according to the White House.

Democratic presidential contenders also were monitoring the shooting.

In a tweet, former Vice President Joe Biden and his wife “send our prayers to the police officers injured today in Philadelphia, and to their families who wake up every day knowing their loved ones are walking into harm’s way when they put on a badge.”

Beto O’Rourke said the shooting was “a reminder of what police officers across America risk to serve their communities each day.”

“Thinking of Philadelphia, and everyone impacted by this gun violence epidemic we need to end,” he said on Twitter.

The Philadelphia Phillies tweeted a message of support to the police department.

“Our thoughts are with the members of @PhillyPolice injured today and everyone working to resolve the situation currently happening in North Philadelphia,” the baseball team said in a tweet.

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