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(CNN)Police have been in an hourslong standoff with a barricaded suspect who they say shot six officers on Wednesday in a North Philadelphia neighborhood.
Two officers are trapped inside the row house, Philadelphia Police Commissioner Richard Ross Jr. told reporters. He said he believed “they’re OK,” but declined to say more out of concern for their safety.
More than four hours after officers swarmed to the scene and the standoff began, negotiators are trying to to communicate with the shooter, but the gunman only picks up the phone without answering, Ross said Wednesday night.”We are trying to get him to come out peacefully, but he is refusing to do so,” he said. “We do know he is still alive.”
Sgt. Eric Gripp, a police spokesman, tweeted that the shooter was barricaded.
Ross said the wounded officers’ injuries were non-life threatening. One had a graze wound to the head.
Officers were in the kitchen of the house when the shooting started and “many of them had to escape through windows and doors,” he said. The shooter has continued to fire out windows, the commissioner said.
Police were first called to the Nicetown-Tiago neighborhood for drug activity, Capt. Sekou Kinebrew told CNN affiliate KYW. Video from a news helicopter showed more than 50 police vehicles at the scene.
Police reported sporadic gunfire into the evening.Video showed police officers kneeling and crouching behind various cars with guns drawn.
Four women were escorted out of the building by Philadelphia police SWAT members, said Greg Argos, a reporter for KYW.
The KYW reporter described the women as “visibly upset, crying, as they were escorted down the street.”
One woman said of the officers: “They kept us safe the whole time, the whole time, they kept us safe.”
At different times, Gripp asked media helicopters to clear the area and for people to not fly drones.
President Donald Trump was briefed on the shooting, deputy White House press secretary Hogan Gidley said.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
CNN’s Mark Morales, Dave Alsup and Chris Boyette contributed to this report.
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