The congressman’s remarks were forwarded to this newsroom through a press release, in which the politician born in Scranton expresses his opinion about yesterday’s events, where six policemen were shot by a criminal who had in his possession a high-powered automatic weapon.

The Pennsylvania senator said in his note to the media that ” While facts are still being gathered, press reports indicate that the gunman had a long history of criminal convictions and would never have had access to a firearm with a proper background check. We also know that this attack is another example of an individual using a high-powered, military-style weapon to terrorize a community and cause harm”.

According to local media reports yesterday, the Nicetown-Tioga gunman, identified as Maurice Hill, has an extensive criminal record showing that he was arrested about a dozen times since he turned 18, and convicted six times on charges including illegal gun possession, drug dealing and aggravated assault. He has done short prison stints. His longest sentence was in 2010, when a federal judge sentenced him to 55 months.

Robert Patrick “Bob” Casey, Jr., said on social networks that “Today, our Commonwealth and our Nation are praying for the Philadelphia police officers who were injured yesterday in the attack, for their families and for the North Philadelphia community. We owe a substantial debt of gratitude to the law enforcement who responded to the scene and worked to keep residents safe.”

The congressman pointed out that “Gun violence is a public health epidemic and it´s long past time for Congress to take action to address it. There are commonsense steps we can take to reduce the likelihood that a person can threaten a community with a military-style assault weapon and we must take them. Majority Leader McConnell should call the Senate back to Washington immediately to debate and vote on gun violence legislation”

Translated by: José Espinoza

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