Lawyer: Teen gun suspect didn’t know cops were at door

More than a dozen police officers descended on the East Frankford crack house the evening of Nov. 13 ready to make a bust.

Sgt. James Schuck said he knocked on the door and announced: "Police! search warrant!" There was no answer, he said. Another officer then banged the door with a battering ram.

Inside, 16-year-old Donyea Phillips grabbed a pistol, and when he heard a second bang on the door, he began firing through a window, according to an alleged confession read in court today.

Two officers were shot - one in the hip and the other in the thigh. Phillips said he heard moaning outside and then somebody say, "I got you! Hang in there!"

One officer fired back, but the police retreated and what ensued was a dramatic stand-off that ended several hours later when Phillips surrendered.

After listening to testimony, Municipal Court Judge Marsha Neifield held Phillips for trial on 13 counts of attempted murder and related offenses.

The shooting of the police occurred less than two weeks after Officer Chuck Cassidy was fatally wounded when he walked into a robbery.

Phillips' lawyer, Lonny Fish, said his client did not know the police were on the other side of the door when he unleashed his barrage of eight bullets.

Assistant District Attorney Namratha Ravikant said Phillips heard police identify themselves and chose not to respond until "he answered with gunshots."

Also charged with attempted murder and related offenses is Phillips' cousin, Troy Zimmerman, 22, who allegedly was squatting and selling drugs with Phillips in the empty unit of the converted row house.