Three Philadelphia police officers shot while serving warrant

The suspect was shot during the confrontation and was transported to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead

Philadelphia police in a roped off section of North Philadelphia following an incident in which three members of the department’s SWAT unit were shot while serving a warrant. A 19-year-old suspect who is believed to have fired on the officers was killed during the resulting shoot-out (Screengrab Fox 29 Philadelphia)

Three members of the Philadelphia Police Department's SWAT unit were shot while serving a warrant, officials said.

Officers were serving a warrant to a man who was wanted for homicide and other violent offences when the 19-year-old allegedly began shooting at them from the window of his house.

Deputy Commissioner John Stanford told ABC 6 that "officers were able to continue to breach the property where they took on more gunfire."

One officer was shot in the hip, another in the leg, and the third in the chest. The suspect then allegedly tried to flee out his back door, but encountered SWAT officers there. He allegedly shot at those officers as well.

Those officers returned fire and hit the suspect, who later died at the hospital. All of the wounded officers are recovering in stable condition at Jefferson University Hospital.

"Two of our officers will be released, hopefully, by the end of the day. The other officer will be admitted for continuous observation," Mr Stanford said.

The 19-year-old was reportedly wanted in connection with several alleged armed robberies and for an August homicide.

"Something has been broken in this young man's life for a long time and it didn't just start today," Mr Stanford told NBC10 Philadelphia.

The deputy commissioner expressed frustration over the increase in gun violence that put his officers at risk, calling it "ridiculous."

"These officers sign up to do a job, it's to protect and serve, but not to take gunfire. At some point it becomes enough and I think we've already passed that point," he said. "I'm not pointing the finger at anybody, I'm pointing the finger at everybody because too many people have guns. This is an all hands on deck situation where everybody needs to be held accountable."

After the suspect was shot, police removed a pair of children from the home as well as two adults who were handcuffed. Investigators said they do not believe any of the other individuals in the home were involved in the shooting.

Mayor Jim Kenney praised the officers in a statement he made on Wednesday.

"Our officers continue to work every single day and every single night, to work their best, to be brave, to put themselves in harm's way, and to do that for us," he said.