Three SWAT officers shot while trying to serve arrest warrant in Philadelphia, suspect shot dead

Three SWAT officers were shot early Wednesday at a home in north Philadelphia as they attempted to arrest a man wanted on a homicide charge, who was eventually shot dead.

The officers were wounded during a barricade situation in the city’s West Poplar neighborhood. Police said the gunfire erupted around 6:30 a.m. at a residence on the intersection of 8th and Brown streets.

As they approached the home, the suspect opened fire from behind a closed door and through the windows, according to authorities.

“Officers were able to continue to breach the property where they took on more gunfire from this individual,” Deputy Commissioner John Stanford told reporters.

One officer was shot in the hip, another in the leg and a third in the upper chest, though the bullet ricocheted off his protective vest. They were all rushed to Jefferson University Hospital, where they were listed in stable condition as of late Wednesday morning.

The officers were trying to serve an arrest warrant for homicide that occurred in August and several other violent offenses, including several gunpoint robberies.

The suspect, identified only as a 19-year-old man, immediately attempted to flee the scene, racing toward the back of the property, where additional law enforcement was already waiting. He opened fire on the officers, prompting them to return fire.

He was shot in the head and taken to Temple University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead a short time later.

Authorities said more than a dozen shots rang out. A neighbor told CBS Philadelphia the scene looked like a “warzone” in wake of the violent confrontation.

“This is probably the most dangerous part of policing is serving warrant on someone you know or suspect to be a murderer and involved in other kinds of crimes,” Mayor Jim Kenney said.

“It just shows what our officers show every single day and every single night to work their best to brave to put themselves in harms way and to do that for us. And that’s a wonderful sacrifice they make for us and we don’t appreciate them as much as we should.

At least two more people were arrested on the scene, though it’s unclear how they are connected to the incident. Two children were also escorted from the home where the suspect had barricaded himself.

An investigation is ongoing.