PHILADELPHIA _ The gunman killed by police after he shot at them from a Frankford rowhouse Thursday was on probation for a firearms conviction in Rhode Island and was wanted for potential parole violations related to a domestic violence incident, authorities said Friday.
When Pennsylvania state parole officers approached Claude Fain, 47, outside his house on the 4600 block of Hawthorne Street, near Orthodox Street, he "immediately fled toward his residence and stated 'I'm going to kill all three of you (expletives)!'" Philadelphia police said.
Fain then retreated inside and opened fire, police said. He kept officers at bay for nearly two hours, intermittently firing down on them from a second-floor window perch until he was struck by bullets.
The chaotic scene left officers scrambling for cover behind cars and buildings, sent five neighboring schools into "lock-in" status, and had residents cowering in their homes.
Police said they recovered at least 13 fired cartridge casings from Fain's home, and that 11 law enforcement officers _ two from state parole, and nine city cops _ returned fire. They did not reveal further details about what precipitated the visit by the parole agents.
The incident was reminiscent of another violent standoff that broke out five months ago and less than five miles away in a Tioga rowhouse as gunman Maurice Hill, 36, allegedly shot at police for nearly seven hours, hitting six officers before finally surrendering.
This time, though, no other injuries were reported.
Still, as Angelita Santiago and her 7-year-old grandson hunkered down in the house next door praying for the gun battle to end, all she could think of was the worst.
Drawn to her window by the gunfire, the 50-year-old said she was shocked to see that her neighbor, Fain, was doing the shooting.
Meanwhile, Lakeisha Cleveland, 29, ran from her home on Mulberry Street, a half-block away, after hearing more than 10 gunshots. She ran toward the nearby Allen M. Stearne Elementary School fearing for the safety of her 7- and 9-year-old children enrolled there. But an officer waved her away and shouted, "Run!" before she could cross the street.
Stearne was one of the schools that went into "lock-in" status during the incident, drawing a crowd of concerned parents nearby. The Frankford branch of the Free Library also was locked down.
"My kids are stuck inside ... without their parents," Cleveland said. "I just want my babies back."
Then, just before 3 p.m., the shooting stopped almost as abruptly as it had started. Philadelphia Police and SWAT officers returning fire on their attacker apparently hit him during the melee, Deputy Commissioner Robin Wimberly said.
"SWAT responded to the job (and) tried to make contact with the male," she said. "(He) came to the window, began firing upon the SWAT officers. They returned fire and he was struck."
According to public records, Fain owned the rowhouse for more than a decade.
Court filings in Pennsylvania show little in the way of criminal history for Fain in the state, but prison officials said he had spent 16 months in Graterford prison between 2013 and 2014 in connection with his probation in Rhode Island.
That case originated in Cranston, R.I. _ about five miles south of Providence _ in 2009. He also was charged at the time with kidnapping, assault and resisting arrest, but those charges were dismissed as part of his guilty plea to carrying a gun without a license and using it in a violent crime.
Even earlier, though, Fain had crossed paths with police in Los Angeles, where court records indicate he had been arrested in separate cases for unlawfully carrying a concealed weapon and for breaking an emergency curfew during riots in the 1990s.
Back on Hawthorne Street, neighbors struggled to reconcile the idea that the man who had lived there for more than a decade was capable of Thursday's violence.
Bonique Scott, who said she is Fain's aunt and lives around the corner, said she was with her nephew shortly before the shooting began. Scott, 51, huddled in an alley while Fain and authorities traded gunfire.
She said Fain suffered from depression and anxiety, but was holding a job with a cleaning service. She also said he had a long-term girlfriend and an infant child.
"He loved kids," Scott said. "He was a great person."
Court records show that Fain's mental condition had come to the attention of authorities in the past. A Rhode Island judge convened a mental competency hearing before deciding he could be prosecuted in that case.
Everene William, who lives on the Hawthorne Street block, had never seen Fain carry a weapon but said he had exhibited signs of mental illness in recent days.
"He's been going up and down the street talking crazy," she said. "He said there's people watching him."
But while Fain could seem "defiant" or "agitated" at times, he was generally quiet and peaceful, said Lorenzo Compton, 55, who had known him for more than a decade.
"I wish," he added, "it could have ended a different way."
Staff writer Claudia Vargas contributed to this article.
