Man accused of shooting two Philly cops in a ‘hurricane of gunfire’ to face trial, judge rules

A man who prosecutors say unleashed a “hurricane of gunfire” when he shot two Philadelphia police officers in Holmesburg last year will face trial for attempted murder and related crimes, a judge ruled Friday.

Dioul Devaughn, 40, stands accused of shooting Christopher Rycek and Henry Glenn last December. Rycek, a nine-year veteran of the department, suffered a graze wound to the bridge of his nose, police said. Glenn, who has been with the department for six years, was grazed in the head.

Prosecutors say Devaughn also opened fire on two highway patrol officers who were assisting Rycek and Glenn in responding to a report of a person with a gun, and he was charged with aggravated assault for shooting at them. The two — Kenneth Fazio and Michael Mitchell — were not injured.

At a preliminary hearing Friday, Municipal Court Judge Patrick Dugan ruled that prosecutors had presented sufficient evidence for the case to move forward. And he revoked Devaughn’s bail at the request of Assistant District Attorney Trey Flynn.

Devaughn, who was injured when the four officers returned fire when he began shooting, arrived in court in a wheelchair and did not visibly react when the judge ruled that the case against him could move forward.

The two officers were shot after responding near Cottman Avenue and Roosevelt Boulevard in the Mayfair neighborhood early on the morning of Dec. 10, police said. They were responding to a report of gunfire by a man in a gray pickup truck who was wearing a tan jacket.

A sergeant who spotted a gray Dodge Ram pickup truck with a man inside wearing a tan jacket approached the truck, but the driver sped off northbound on Roosevelt Boulevard, police said.

Rycek and Glenn tried to get the truck to pull over at Frankford Avenue and Welsh Road, police said, and the truck rammed their patrol car from behind.

Mitchell, one of the highway patrol officers, testified Friday that he had been tailing the truck and saw Devaughn get out of the vehicle and fire at Rycek and Glenn. Rycek, he said, got out and took cover behind his car’s engine block and Glenn went to the west side of the road and went behind a truck.

Mitchell recalled seeing Rycek’s face covered in blood and Glenn slumped over, bleeding profusely.

After all four officers fired back at Devaughn, he was struck and also bleeding heavily, said Mitchell, who added that he saw a gun in the front seat of Devaughn’s car.

Devaughn’s attorney, Julian Settles, noted that Mitchell and Fazio were unharmed and that Mitchell’s patrol car was not damaged and said Devaughn should not be charged with aggravated assault for shooting at those two officers.

But Flynn, the prosecutor, said that in addition to shooting Rycek and Glenn, Devaughn sprayed gunfire at the two highway patrol officers and was clearly trying to cause them harm.

“We have here a hurricane of gunfire coming down the street,” he said.