Philadelphia police officers attempted to execute a warrant against Maurice Hill in the Nicetown section of Philadelphia yesterday when Hill opened fire, wounding six cops.
Police said that the incident began when an officer attempted to serve a warrant. Ross said that officers were already inside and in the rear of the building when the gunman opened fire, forcing them to escape a barrage of bullets through windows and doors.
“This was a narcotics warrant that went awry almost immediately, and the officers came under fire,” Ross said. He said officers were in different areas of the building to quickly secure it, and some became trapped upstairs.
The good news is that all of the wounded officers have been treated for their wounds and released.
Hill barricaded himself in the residence and remained there during an eight-hour stand-off with Philly police until they finally fired tear gas inside and swarmed the residence after midnight last night. He was then taken into custody.
Philadelphia mayor Jim Kenney had this to say about Hill . . .
Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney said the suspect has a criminal history and “was able to get these weapons, and a large magazine, a large amount of bullets.” The mayor criticized federal and state governments for what he said was a lack of progress on gun control and an unwillingness to stand up to the National Rifle Association and others.
“So whether it’s our six officers that were shot or it’s some 15-, 17-, 20-year-old kid on the streets of Philadelphia who gets shot with guns that shouldn’t be in people’s hands — it’s aggravating, it’s saddening, and it’s just something we need to do something about,” Kenney said. ” … Our officers deserve to be protected, and they don’t deserve to be shot at by a guy for hours with an unlimited supply of weapons and an unlimited supply of bullets.”
Philadelphia Mayor calls for gun control after shooting that injured 6 police officers
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) August 15, 2019
Other pols were quick to jump on the gun control bandwagon, too.
I’m heartsick for the Philadelphia officers and their loved ones, and grateful for the brave first responders helping people get to safety.
We don’t have to live like this. We must pass gun reform laws to end the gun violence epidemic—now. https://t.co/r0OKa1tVnc
— Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) August 15, 2019
Mayor Kenney and Senator Fauxcahontas are apparently unaware that, just like dealing in controlled substances and attempted murder, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon is already against the law. Hill was, by any definition, a prohibited person who couldn’t legally possess a firearm or ammunition.
According to the Philadelphia Inquirer . . .
Public records show that [Hill] has been arrested about a dozen times since turning 18, and convicted six times on charges that involved illegal possession of guns, drug dealing, and aggravated assault. He has been in and out of prison; the longest sentence handed him came in 2010, when a federal judge gave him a 55-month term.
Oh, and . . .
Hill also spent time in federal prison. In 2008, he pleaded guilty to federal firearms violations after he was caught with a Smith & Wesson .357 and later a Taurus PT .45 semiautomatic. His prior felony convictions should have barred him from owning those weapons. U.S. District Judge Paul S. Diamond sentenced him to four years and seven months in prison.
So it seems that — against all odds — Maurice Hill didn’t really care about the web of state and federal gun control laws that are already in place that were designed to prevent him from acquiring a firearm.
Claiming that yesterday’s shooting is somehow attributable to a lack of sufficient gun control laws in America is the worst kind of ignorant, opportunistic demagoguery. In other words, it’s par for the course after any kind of high-profile incident involving a firearm.