Accused gunman in North Philly police shootout likely to face dozens more attempted-murder charges, prosecutors say
Authorities have interviewed about 175 police officers as part of their investigation into Maurice Hill, who is accused of shooting six cops during a standoff in Tioga last month.
The man accused of shooting six police officers during a standoff in Tioga last month, already charged with 11 counts of attempted murder, is likely to face dozens more charges as law enforcement officials continue a sprawling investigation that has included interviews with about 175 police officers who responded to the scene, prosecutors said Thursday.
Anthony Voci, chief of the Homicide Unit in the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office, said after a brief hearing for accused gunman Maurice Hill that the new charges could include up to two dozen additional counts of attempted murder for shooting at cops on the 3700 block of North 15th Street on the night of Aug. 14.
Voci told Municipal Court Judge Wendy L. Pew that the new charges likely would be filed “within 30 days,” and that authorities still were interviewing cops and analyzing evidence before finalizing the slate of additional offenses.
Hill, 36, had been scheduled for a preliminary hearing Thursday, but it was rescheduled for Nov. 14 as the investigation continues. His lawyer, Ed Meehan, declined to comment after the proceeding. Hill was not in court and is held without bail.
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Hill is accused of firing at officers attempting to secure a house at 3716 N. 15th, where police say they believed drug dealers had taken a bag of narcotics. Officials have said Hill fired at and struck several officers who entered the house, then holed up inside while shooting an AR-15 out a window.
Two officers and three other people were trapped inside for hours before police managed to get them out while Hill remained barricaded inside.
The standoff lasted 7½ hours. Hill surrendered around midnight, after police fired tear gas into the house. Hill also had spent hours negotiating by phone with his former attorney, Shaka Johnson, as well as District Attorney Larry Krasner, and then-Police Commissioner Richard Ross.
Seven other people have been charged in connection with the case. Prosecutors — who previously said the investigation into the incident could take months — have not specified the alleged roles of those seven people, and court records show the cases against them are pending.