Teenager charged with attempted murder of police officer

Sixteen-year-old boy was charged with attempted murder for shooting at two police officers in line of duty. One policeman was killed.

Photo: Teenager charged with attempted murder of police officer

Donyea Phillips, 16, was charged Wednesday as an adult with nine counts of attempted murder - one for each officer at the scene when the shots were fired from a house in the city's Frankford section Tuesday night, police said. Phillips also was charged with aggravated assault and possession with intent to deliver drugs.

One officer was shot in the leg and the other in the hip. Both were treated at hospitals and released; their names were not disclosed because they work undercover.

The wounded men, both plainclothes officers wearing badges, were accompanied by uniformed officers positioned at the front and the back of the house.

According to court records, a warrant had been issued for Phillips on Sept. 4 stemming from a disorderly conduct charge from August.

A message left after hours with the public defender's office to see whether Phillips had an attorney was not immediately returned.

Phillips was arraigned Wednesday evening and held without bail. His preliminary hearing was scheduled for Nov. 19.

The officers are the fourth and fifth victims in a spate of shootings at police, including the slaying of Officer Chuck Cassidy, who was shot in the head Oct. 31 when he walked in on a robbery at a doughnut shop. A suspect was arrested days later in Miami and is in custody in Philadelphia .