'Several' Philadelphia officers injured in shooting incident

Philadelphia police were shot at Wednesday afternoon after responding to a shooting incident in a North Philly neighborhood.

A large police presence responded to a shooting incident in a residential area of the Nicetown section of the city. One male shooter was still inside a residence in what police described as an active situation.

Officers took cover behind cars and blocked off surrounding streets as they were fired upon by the unidentified shooter.

A Philadelphia Police Department spokesperson told NBC News that "several" officers were injured in the exchange and described the scene as "an active and ongoing incident." The department said in a statement that the injured officers were taken to Temple University's hospital, located just minutes away.

It's unclear how many were hurt, but NBC Philadelphia reported that at least five officers were shot.

A witness who lived close to the shooting told NBC Philadelphia that she heard a series of shots fired, what felt like 100 gunshots, and could smell what seemed to be gunpowder before police arrived to the scene. The unidentified woman told NBC Philadelphia that it felt "like a war."

The nearby campus for Temple University's Health Sciences Center is under lockdown as the situation unfolds.

SEPTA, the city's public transit provider, reported that it will temporarily bypass Erie Station, which is only a few blocks away from the the site of the reported shooting.