In the early morning of March 13, 2020, Philadelphia Police Corporal James O’Connor, 46, was shot and killed while part of a SWAT team serving a homicide warrant in the Frankford section. The team entered a Bridge Street residence and announced themselves multiple times; a man firing from behind a closed second-floor door struck O’Connor with a round from a semi-automatic assault rifle. He was pronounced dead a short time later at a local hospital and was posthumously promoted to Sergeant.

The warrant being served was for Hassan Elliott, then 21. Inside the house were Elliott and three other men: Bilal Mitchell, 20; Khalif Sears, 19; and Sherman Easterling, 25. All four were taken into custody. Investigators recovered multiple firearms at the scene, including the rifle identified as the weapon used to kill O’Connor, along with crack cocaine, marijuana and drug packaging materials. The men were tied to a violent drug trafficking group described as 1700 Scattergood.

The case raises questions about the circumstances inside the house and the group’s structure; anyone with information about the operation, the people named, or the shooting is asked to come forward.