Philadelphia shooting: officers discuss dangers of serving warrants

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (ABC7) — Police officers across the country were paying close attention to Wednesday's developments in Philadelphia, after authorities say six officers were shot by at least one gunman. Law enforcement says the suspect then continued firing at police officers in a standoff that stretched late into the night in a north Philadelphia neighborhood.

"It's horrific. The headline, six Philadelphia police officers shot -while serving a search warrant, which is bad enough. But in a downtown area, it's 4:30 in the afternoon, there are lots of people, schools nearby, a daycare - you think about members of the public who could unwittingly walk into the path of gunfire. So it's horrifying," said retired police officer Jason Johnson.

Johnson spent 20 years with the Prince George's County Police Department and retired as Commander of Internal Affairs. After that, he spent two years as Deputy Commissioner of the Baltimore Police Department. He currently serves as president of a nonprofit organization called the Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund.

ABC7 spoke to Johnson on Wednesday night, as the standoff in Philadelphia was still unfolding.

"Search warrants, particularly narcotic search warrants, are one of the most dangerous things that police officers can do," he said. "Typically, that's why they're handled by SWAT teams or special tactical teams that have special training and special equipment."

He said those tactical teams try to plan ahead as much as possible and get as much intel as possible before serving a warrant.

"So they have a sense of how many people may be in a location, what kind of weapons they may have," said Johnson. "They generally have to knock and announce they're there, which certainly gives anyone inside enough of a heads up to be able to grab a weapon, or whatever, to defend their property or potentially have a shootout with police."

Authorities in Philadelphia say the shootout happened when a team of officers were serving a narcotics warrant. It's believed the suspect had a high-powered rifle and a stockpile of ammunition.

Six officers were shot, but police said their injuries were not life-threatening.

"The goal for police now is just to de-escalate the situation," said Johnson, as the standoff continued on Wednesday evening. "They'll have trained negotiators on the scene, trying to make contact with the person inside, and really their main goal is to de-escalate the situation, to calm things down. The rule of thumb for police is that time is on our side. If we can calm things down and prevent further violence, we're winning. So that's what they'll try to do."

Johnson said law enforcement agencies nationwide will be watching closely, hoping for a peaceful resolution in Philadelphia.

"There's always a takeaway," he said. "There's always something that can be learned, and law enforcement agencies now more than ever are trying to learn from any situation where there's a threat to officer safety or a loss of life."