Police ID officers involved in 9-hour weekend barricade in Germantown that ended with gunfire

Philadelphia police have identified two SWAT officers who suffered minor injuries after a nine-hour barricade last Saturday in the city’s Germantown section ended with gunfire that resulted in a 65-year-old man hospitalized with a bullet wound to his shoulder in what prosecutors called an “attempted ‘suicide by cop.’”

Steve Robbins, who has an active criminal case involving alleged unlawful sexual contact with a minor and had an outstanding warrant for failing to appear in court, has been released from the hospital and was being held at the Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility in lieu of $1 million bail on a slew of charges stemming from the barricade.

Shortly after 4 p.m. Saturday, police responded to reports of a person with a gun at a house on the 400 block of West Bringhurst Street. They announced their presence and entered the house when they heard a gunshot, police said. The officers exited the house and a barricade was declared.

A detective who serves as a negotiator was in communication with Robbins for several hours, police said, but Robbins allegedly said he would not leave the house. After several hours with no further communication with Robbins, SWAT officers entered the house and ascended to the third floor. Robbins was in a bedroom with the door closed when he allegedly fired a shotgun through the door, striking Sgt. Erik Bullock, 56, and Officer Matthew Fitzpatrick, 35, in their body armor, as well as a ballistic shield being held by a third officer.

Police said Bullock and Fitzpatrick returned fire, and Robbins was shot once in the right shoulder. Police didn’t say which officer fired the shot that struck him. Robbins was transported to Einstein Medical Center, where he was initially listed in critical but stable condition.

Bullock and Fitzpatrick, who did not suffer any penetrating injuries, were taken to the hospital as a precaution and then released.

Bullock, a 25-year member of the force, and Fitzpatrick, a 10-year member, have been placed on administrative duty pending the outcome of internal investigations.

Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said in a statement on Friday: “Although we are fortunate that their physical injuries were not severe, this serves as a stark reminder of the dangers our communities and officers face from armed criminals. Our members will not be intimidated, and we will not back down.”

Robbins was arrested in 2021 for unlawful contact with a minor, and after he failed to appear in court, a bench warrant was approved in February 2022, court records show.