Gunman fires at police, triggers 90-minute standoff in North Philadelphia

No officers were hurt, but the standoff came two weeks after a gunman armed with an assault-style rifle wounded six officers during an 8-hour siege in North Philly's Tioga section.

A police officer guards 2622 Warnock St. while detectives seek a warrant to search the building for a gun a man allegedly used to fire at a pair of plainclothes officers as they witnessed a drug deal.Read moreELIZABETH ROBERTSON / Staff Photographer

by Joseph A. Gambardello

Published Aug. 29, 2019, 6:57 a.m. ET

Five people were in custody Thursday after a gunman fired at plainclothes police officers in North Philadelphia and then ran inside a building, triggering a standoff, authorities said.

No officers were injured. The shooting came two weeks after a barricaded gunman armed with an assault rifle wounded six officers before surrendering to end an eight-hour siege in the city’s Tioga section.

The latest shooting occurred about 11:45 p.m. Wednesday at Warnock and Oakdale Streets in the Hartranft neighborhood, police said.

Police Chief Inspector Scott Small told reporters during a briefing at the scene that two plainclothes officers in an unmarked car were witnessing a drug deal at what he called a “known drug location” when a gunman fired three shots at them. The shooter then ran into a corner building with a barbershop on the ground floor and an apartment above it, Small said.

A SWAT team was called in and a standoff ensued as officers urged anyone in the building to surrender and a police helicopter watched from above.

About 1:15 a.m. Thursday, police took four men and one woman into custody without incident. Their names were not released and no charges were immediately filed.

Small said police did not immediately find a weapon and officers began a search of the building Thursday after obtaining a warrant.

During the briefing, gunfire rang out from nearby. “That’s gunshots,” Small said. CBS3 reported that the rear window of a woman’s car was the apparent target of the shooting.

In the Aug. 14 shooting in Tioga, Maurice Hill, 36, has been charged with 11 counts of attempted murder and faces a litany of other offenses, including aggravated assault, assault of a law enforcement officer, and possession of drugs and firearms.