Philadelphia Police Killer and His Gang Get Federal Indictment
by Alex Lloyd Gross
On March 13, 2020, then Corporal James O’Connor was serving a felony warrant on Hassan Elliott for a previous murder. that you can read about here. As police kicked in the door to his house on the 1600 block of Bridge Street, Elliott fired a shot that struck and killed O’Connor. police returned fire, seriously wounding others in the house. Elliott was arrested.
It was announced today, December 10, 2020 that Eliott and three of his alleged co conspirators will be facing federal charges in this matter. According to US Attorney William McSwain, Elliott and three other males operated as a gang and sold illegal drugs on the streets of Philadelphia. This gang, called themselves 1700 Scattergood .They were all indicted on federal charges in an Indictment that was unsealed today.
The defendants are Bilal Mitchell, Kalif Sears and Sherman Easterling all of Philadelphia. Mcswain said that the defendants were inside the house on Bridge Street , when the warrant was served. They used this property as a stash house and had 10 guns in it as well as a large quantity of “crack” cocaine. James O’Connor was promoted to Sergeant after his death. After police processed the shooting scene, they did an extensive search of the house where they found drugs and drug paraphernalia, as well as tools used to package and sell the drugs, such as a scale and packaging materials.
US Attorney William McSwain said today that “This incident was totally preventable, had Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner kept Elliott behind bars for previous offenses. “I cannot have the O’Conner family apprehensive about District Attorney Larry Krasner’s Office and whether they will get justice or not. That guessing stops today”. McSwain stated that feds will take over the prosecution. “We have been in contact with Krasner’s office, they have not turned the case over to us,” he said. It is entirely possible that Elliott and the other defendants could face both federal and state charges, if Krasner’s office does not turn the case over. Elliott faces a possible death penalty for his role of the killings. McSwain said that any future plea deal would have to have the input of the O’Connor family.
Terri O’Conner, The widow of James, said “I don’t need to be the next Maureen Faulkner, worried about will I get justice for 40 years”. Flanked by roughly 50 police officers, McSwain made his remarks, along with Deputy Police Commissioner Melvin Singleton and ATF Special Agent In Charge Matthew Varisco. He called Krasner’s policies “Absurd” and said that “Krasner’s pro-violent defendant policies are what put this plan in motion and in that sense, they are every bit as responsible for Sergeant O’Connor’s alleged murder as the defendants,”.