At least six Philadelphia police officers were shot Wednesday afternoon in an active standoff with a gunman holed up in a North Philly house.
A large police presence responded to a shooting incident at about 4:30 p.m. local time in a residential area of the Nicetown section of the city. One male shooter was still inside a residence in what police described as an active situation.
A police spokesperson told NBC News that the incident began when an officer attempted to serve a warrant at the address.
Officers took cover behind cars and blocked off surrounding streets as they were fired upon by the unidentified shooter.
A Philadelphia Police Department spokesperson told NBC News that “several” officers were injured in the exchange and described the scene as “an active and ongoing incident.” The spokesman said in a tweet Wednesday that six officers were shot and taken to area hospitals with non-life threatening injuries.
NBC Philadelphia reported that one other officer was injured in a car accident at a nearby intersection.
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A witness who lived close to the shooting told NBC Philadelphia that she heard a series of shots fired, what felt like 100 gunshots, and could smell what seemed to be gunpowder as the shootout unfolded. The unidentified woman told NBC Philadelphia that it felt “like a war.”
The nearby campus for Temple University’s Health Sciences Center is under lockdown as the situation unfolds.
SEPTA, the city’s public transit provider, reported that it will temporarily bypass Hunting Park, Erie, and Allegheny stations, all located in the surrounding area of the shooting.
President Donald Trump has been briefed on the standoff, according to a White House pool report. Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf also said he was aware of the situation and offered support to local police.
“Praying for the recovery of the police officers who were injured in the line of duty and the safety of others responding to this incident,” Wolf said in a tweet.
This is a developing story.
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