Suspect shoots at police offers in 8 hour standoff. (Photo courtesy of Zuzu| CC BY-SA 3.0)
An active shootout near Temple University between an armed suspect and police has passed its fifth hour.
Six Philadelphia Police Department officers were shot and were released from local hospitals after receiving treatment for non life-threatening injuries.
Gunshots were fired at 4:30 p.m. from 3700 N.15th St, a house about two miles north of Temple, Philadelphia Police Department sergeant Eric Gripp wrote on Twitter. The gunshots continued intermittently as officers attempted to convince the shooter to surrender. The suspect is still "armed and inside the house," Gripp confirmed at 9:36 p.m.
The shootout began after narcotics officers attempted to serve an arrest warrant at the North Philadelphia home, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. PPD commissioner Richard Ross said he did not know whether there are one or multiple shooters in the house at an 8 p.m. press conference, according to the Inquirer.
Ross also said two officers remain trapped in the house.
After the press conference, Gripp announced via Twitter that the two trapped officers were safely evacuated from the house.
Police also said the suspect was live-streaming the shootout on Facebook, the Inquirer reported.
Temple issued a lockdown for its nearby Health Sciences Center Campus after the initial gunshots were fired, then lifted the lockdown two hours later. Gripp tweeted at 7:48 p.m. that children from two nearby daycare centers were evacuated from the area.
PPD was not immediately available for comment.
The suspect, 36 year old Maurice Hill, surrendered to police just after midnight on Thursday, The Washington Post reported. Gripp tweeted early Thursday that the suspect is in custody.
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