Philadelphia shooting: Gunman in stand-off with police after injuring six

* This article originally appeared on www.bbc.com

Police are locked in a lengthy stand-off with a gunman who injured at least six officers during a shootout in the US city of Philadelphia. A gun battle broke out between police and a male shooter at around 16:30 local time (20:30 GMT).

The officers were serving a drugs warrant at a home in Philadelphia's Nicetown-Tiago neighborhood when the gunman opened fire. Six hours on, Philadelphia Police say the armed suspect is yet to surrender. A SWAT team rescued two officers and other hostages who were trapped inside the home with the gunman, police said. Police Commissioner Richard Ross said the officers were safely evacuated from what he earlier called a "hostage situation". He said the trapped officers were holding people they arrested during the raid. According to him, the gunman fired on the SWAT team's truck before they swooped on the home. "There's no indication that he's trying to surrender, we do know that he is still alive, there's no question of that because of the shots that keep ringing out," Commissioner Ross said in a news conference. Officers were still "attempting to communicate with the shooter" and urging him to give himself up, police Sergeant Eric Gripp tweeted. Six officers involved in the shootout were taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries. Richard Ross added that "many of them had to escape through windows and doors" as the suspect fired. Video from the scene shows dozens of police cars and officers outside the home where the gunman is hunkering down. Deputy White House press secretary Hogan Gidley said, US President Donald Trump was briefed on the shooting.