PHILADELPHIA (AP) - A Philadelphia man ordered to stand trial in the shooting of six police officers before barricading himself inside of a row home during an hours-long standoff last summer will stand trial on dozens of additional charges from the incident.
The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that Municipal Court Judge Karen Y. Simmons held Maurice Hill for trial Thursday on dozens of additional charges filed by Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner including 22 counts of attempted murder. Simmons dismissed a handful of attempted murder charges in favor of lower reckless endangerment charges, and Hill will face another round of possible counts at a third preliminary hearing scheduled for April.
Several officers testified Thursday about the chaotic unfolding of events during the more than seven-hour standoff on August 14 that started when police attempted to serve a warrant on narcotics charges. The hours of sporadic gunfire kept residents evacuated and briefly trapped children in a daycare as bullets pinged off of nearby buildings.
Hill was taken into custody after a negotiated surrender that involved a call with then-police Commissioner Richard Ross. Officers testified that Hill was taken to Temple University for treatment after his surrender, where he yelled from his hospital bed, “I hope all them cops is dead!”
No one was killed during the hours of shooting. One officer was shot in the head, but survived his injuries.
Hill had been ordered to stand trial in December for the most serious charges including 11 counts of attempted murder, aggravated assault and others. But shortly after that hearing, Krasner announced that his office had filed 62 additional charges against Hill.
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