Sandy MalonePhiladelphia, PA – Police have released more details about the gunman who shot a cop and engaged in a 90-minute shootout with officers in Philadelphia on Wednesday after shooting three civilians.
Philadelphia police have identified the man who shot a Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) police officer and several others on April 6 as 18-year-old Zyhiem Terrell-Hartman, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
The incident began at about 7 p.m. on April 6 when officers responded to a report of gunshots near the Arrott Transportation Center in Frankford, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
Responding officers found a 42-year-old woman and a 57-year-old woman suffering from gunshot wounds near the intersection of Arrott and Griscom Streets.
A third victim took themselves to the hospital for treatment.
Officers chased the man believed to be the suspect four blocks and he ran into an apartment building on Leiper Street, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
Marcellous Andrews said he was resting in his apartment when a man started banging on his door.
“Open the door!” the man yelled, according to Andrew.
Then the man hit Andrews’ front door with so much force that it splintered the wood, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
Andrews said the man looked briefly at him as he rushed into the living room, but the resident didn’t stick around and ran out of the building.
Police told him to take cover as Terrell-Hartman smashed out the window of Andrews’ second-floor apartment in the 4700-block of Leiper Street, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
Then the 18-year-old suspect opened fire on police officers outside.
Police returned fire and a shootout ensued that went on for almost 90 minutes, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
NEW VIDEO: A gunman perched in a window opens fire at police officers in Frankford, Philadelphia. You can see the suspect in the window, bullets firing
A @SEPTA officer was shot, rushed to Temple — SWAT teams have the house surrounded, @ABaskerville10 on scene @NBCPhiladelphia pic.twitter.com/OtzUbth4TO
— Randy Gyllenhaal (@RandyGyllenhaal) April 7, 2022
Terrell-Hartman was found dead inside the residence.
Officials initially said that the gunman had died from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, but a high-ranking law enforcement official told the Philadelphia Inquirer that Terrell-Hartman was killed by police during the prolonged gunfight.
“No, it wasn’t suicide. We shot him,” the official said.
“He was hit at least twice, with one of those shots being in the head,” the source added.
The official explained that officers found Terrell-Hartman dead inside the apartment with a gunshot wound to the head and at first assumed it was suicide, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
But he said the coroner had discovered that wasn’t the case.
“It’s not a secret, nor should it be,” the official said. “I think they thought that it was suicide because of the gunshot wound to the head. But the Medical Examiner does a closer examination.”
RECOVERING: @SEPTA Transit Police officer Ervis Onuzi, 28, with three years on the force. @FOX29philly pic.twitter.com/do6DpEwJoD
— Steve Keeley (@KeeleyFox29) April 7, 2022
Police said that the officer who was shot during the gunfight – 28-year-old SEPTA Police Officer Ervis Onuzi – was in critical but stable condition on Friday from the gunshot wound he sustained to his abdomen, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
Holly Matkin
