Temple University's hospital and health sciences campus were placed on lockdown Wednesday evening when a gunman blocks away fired shots from a home that wounded six Philadelphia police officers after they attempted to serve a narcotics warrant, resulting in a 7 ½-hour standoff, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.
All of the police officers who sustained gunshot wounds were released from area hospitals by Wednesday night, according to Philadelphia Police Sgt. Eric Gripp.
Police identified the shooter as Maurice Hill, a 36-year-old Philadelphia man with a history of drug and gun convictions. He surrendered from the house in the Nicetown-Tioga neighborhood of Philadelphia after midnight, after police fired teargas into the property. Mr. Hill was briefly treated for exposure to the chemicals at Temple University Hospital before he was taken to jail, according to the Inquirer.
Temple University's 732-bed hospital and health sciences campus are less than a 10-minute walk from the scene of the shooting. The school issued a lockdown as the situation unfolded, tweeting at 5:05 p.m. EST: "Lockdown is in effect for Health Sciences Center Campus. Seek shelter. Secure doors. Be silent. Be still. Police are responding." Faculty, students and employees received text notifications on their phones alerting them of the lockdown, which was lifted at 7 p.m.
"It's nothing short of a miracle that we don't have multiple officers killed today," Philadelphia Police Commissioner Richard Ross said at a press conference outside Temple University Hospital, where some of the officers were treated.