Hassan Elliott sentenced to 75 years in prison in murder of Philadelphia police Sgt. James O'Connor
Hassan Elliott, a man who pleaded guilty to fatally shooting Philadelphia Police Sgt. James O'Connor in 2020, was sentenced to 75 years in prison on Wednesday, the city's top federal prosecutor in Philadelphia announced.
The shooting happened while O'Connor, a member of the Philadelphia Police Department SWAT unit, was serving a search and arrest warrant for Elliott at a home on the 1600 block of Bridge Street in the Frankford section of the city.
While O'Connor and other officers were serving the warrants on March 13, 2020, Elliott fired a rifle through a closed bedroom door, striking O'Connor in the chest.
The team later found multiple handguns, a rifle that was used to shoot O'Connor, and quantities of crack cocaine and marijuana, as well as materials to package and sell those drugs.
U.S. Attorney David Metcalf said he was satisfied with the result but acknowledged it would not bring back the victims.
"In our line of work, we see, unfortunately, terrible crimes every day. And it's easy to get inured to those crimes, but every now and then, people like Hassan Elliott still find a way to shock you and outrage you. And this is definitely one of those cases," Metcalf said. "An attack on a police officer is the ultimate violation of the law, and if we want to have a society of law and order, any attack on a police officer has to be met with justice as it was here today."
Metcalf's office said Elliott and other men inside the house were members of the criminal organization 1700 Scattergood, also known as SG1700.
Elliott was responsible for other fatal shootings as well, according to Metcalf. Those victims were Kaseem Rogers, Dontae Walker, and Tyrone Tyree — the warrant O'Connor was attempting to serve would have brought Elliott into custody for Tyree's murder.
"It's been a five-year journey," Philadelphia Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel said. "These are difficult times. I was not here during this period of time, but you walk into that courtroom today and you see the trauma ... These men and women give their lives for this job."
"We feel good that this part of it is finally over, to an extent," O'Connor's wife, Terri, said. "We're relieved that we don't have to hear any more about [Elliott]."
"Jim O'Connor is going to live on forever, Hassan Elliott is a nobody for the rest of his life, and that's that," said O'Connor's daughter, Kelsey O'Connor. "He can't hurt anybody else ... we're going to move forward, we're going to keep living life. We're going to do it for my dad."
O'Connor's son, James O'Connor V, is a current member of the Philadelphia Police Department and Kelsey served in the Air Force.
Elliott, nicknamed "Haz," pleaded guilty in January to causing O'Connor's death, as well as racketeering conspiracy and drug trafficking and gun offenses. Another man, Khalif Sears, also pleaded guilty in January to causing O'Connor's death and other offenses.
Two other men, Kelvin "Nip" Jimenez and Dominique "Dom" Parker, were convicted at trial in March of several crimes that prosecutors said were part of their membership in SG1700, a "violent drug trafficking organization."
O'Connor earned the rank of corporal but was later posthumously promoted to sergeant.
