The report Wednesday on police radio was urgent, the rushed tone in a cop’s voice hinting at the terror that was to come: “3700 15th, assist the officer. Shots fired, shots fired.”
On that block of North 15th Street, just a stone’s throw from a busy SEPTA hub on Erie Avenue, a group of police officers had barged into a rowhouse about 4:30 p.m. to serve a warrant on narcotics charges. As they made their way to the rear of the property, they were met by thunderous gunfire. Some jumped through windows to escape the bullets, Police Commissioner Richard Ross later said. “I got an officer shot at this location in the leg!” one cop yelled to a police dispatcher.
The dispatcher shared the assistance call once, twice, three times: “We got an officer down!” — a siren call that led dozens of police officers to rush to the scene, clogging the streets with their patrol cars, as news helicopters began thrumming overhead.