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Two More Men Charged With Murder In Shooting Death Of Philadelphia Police Sgt. James O'Connor

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- A little more than a month after a Philadelphia police officer was killed in a shooting, two more individuals were charged in his murder. On March 13, Philadelphia SWAT forces serving a felony arrest warrant led to the killing of Sgt. James O'Connor.

Investigators say the 46-year-old was one of eight SWAT members who entered a Frankford home to arrest 21-year-old murder suspect Hassan Elliott when the suspect fired a rifle through a door, striking and killing O'Connor.

"Myself and my assistant chief, Joanne Pescatore, have literally worked every day since March 13th combing through a variety of evidence," said Anthony Voci, the district attorney's chief of the homicide unit.

On Friday, that hard work led to additional murder charges for two men – Bilal Mitchell and Khalif Sears – who investigators say were both inside that room with Elliott.

"They are charged with the murder of Sgt. O'Connor and the attempted murder of his seven SWAT team members. We are additionally filing criminal conspiracy charges against Mitchell, Sears and Hassan Elliott as a result of our investigation," Voci said.

Voci says evidence still shows Elliott was the only shooter, but Sears and Mitchell are being charged under the state's conspiracy act.

"The evidence we developed in this case is that Mr. Sears, Mr. Mitchell and Mr. Elliott were part of a street gang and they conducted a lot of illegal activity that supported each other," Voci said. "The killing of Sgt. O'Connor was an act in furtherance of that conspiracy. It was something that had been discussed and could be foreseen, from that perspective."

CBS3 reached out to O'Connor's family for comment and they directed us to the Fraternal Order of Police.

"These defendants should have never been on the street and that led to the murder of a Philadelphia hero, Sgt. Jim O'Connor IV. We stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the entire O'Connor family and the men and women of the Philadelphia police department as they seek justice for this unspeakable homicide," FOP President John McNesby said.

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