Six police officers were shot and wounded in the United States city of Philadelphia on Wednesday during several hours of gunfire which began when police tried to execute a narcotics warrant.

According to the Philadelphia Police Department, all of the officers were later released from hospital but Police Commissioner, Richard Ross Jr said that in his 30 years of service, he had never seen so many officers shot over such a long period of time.

Speaking during a press conference, Ross said two other officers who had been trapped in a house with the suspected Philadelphia shooter were finally freed later in the evening.

“Right now, we have gone from a hostage situation to a barricade,” Ross added, with the gunman still holed up inside the building and intermittently firing out of the window. 

Later on Wednesday, officers were focused on convincing the suspect to come out of the house peacefully and Ross said he seemed to have stopped shooting.