Volunteers help fix homes damaged in North Philly police shootout

FOX 29's Bruce Gordon has more on how volunteers came together to repair homes damaged during a standoff in North Philadelphia back in August.

NORTH PHILADELPHIA - Volunteers have come together in an effort to help repair homes damaged during a nearly eight-hour standoff with police in North Philadelphia this August.

District Council 21 of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades began the repairs on the 3700 block of North 15th Street on Tuesday.

Mayor Jim Kenney requested the union’s help in an October letter to Business Manager Joe Ashdale.

“Knowing of your union’s past generosity and willingness to help whenever needed, I am again asking for your assistance in helping to heal a community,” Kenney wrote.

Mayor Jim Kenney requested the union’s help as a way to help heal the community affected by the standoff.

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Philadelphia's deputy mayor of labor noted the union members "always step up whenever we've reached out to them for help."

Philadelphia Deputy Mayor for Labor Rich Lazer noted that "DC 21 always step up whenever we've reached out to them for help."

Maurice Hill, 36, is accused of shooting six Philadelphia Police Department officers as they were serving a narcotics warrant on Aug. 14, triggering a standoff that extended into the night.

Two officers were trapped inside the house for about five hours after the shooting broke out but were freed by a SWAT team well after darkness fell on the residential neighborhood.