3 Arrests Made in Deadly Pa. Teen Party Shooting
Two more arrests have been made after the fatal shootings in Chester, Pa.
April 10, 2011 -- Police arrested two more people today in connection with the shooting at a birthday party in a Philadelphia suburb Friday night that left two teenagers dead and eight others injured.
Carlisha Coleman, the 19-year-old woman who threw her birthday party at Minaret Temple No. 174 in Chester, Pa., was arrested today along with another individual. She faces charges of resisting arrest, risking a catastrophe and other related charges, according to ABC News affiliate WPVI-TV in Philadelphia.
Chester Police Department Chief Darren Alston said Coleman was arrested after she allegedly fought with police officers.
Two teenagers died after the shooting, and one of the eight other wounded was still in critical condition this afternoon.
A 17-year-old male was arrested on weapons charges Saturday in connection with the incident. His name and the name of the other person arrested have not been released by Chester Police.
Police have not indicated what they believe led to the shooting, and Investigators are still looking for more people who may have played a role in the incident, according to WPVI.
One victim, identified as 19-year-old David Johnson, died early Saturday. A second, 17-year-old Robel Laboy, died Saturday afternoon, according to WPVI-TV.
Nine of the victims were taken to Crozer-Chester Medical Center, while a 10th person was treated at another hospital, according to a hospital spokesman.
Of the other people wounded in the attack, three -- two males and one female -- were in stable condition on Sunday, while another male victim was in critical condition, according to Grant Gegwich a spokesman for the Crozer-Keystone Health System.
"Someone just opened the door and started firing," an unnamed source told Chester County's Daily Local.
One of the victims was shot in the head, and two firearms were recovered at the scene, according to Chester police.
The families of the victims and other mourners gathered for a vigil Saturday night to remember the young men who died in the incident.
"Innocent bystander," said Donna Fisher, a family member of one of the deceased victims. "Just kids out, you know, at a birthday party. I just don't understand it."
Preliminary reports indicated that the shooting victims ranged in age from 15 to 20-years-old, Alston told the Daily Local.
Wendell Butler Jr., Chester's Mayor, told the Philadelphia Daily News that he visited the scene of the incident early Saturday.
"It probably was a young persons' party, probably people in their late teens," Butler said.
The mayor told The Associated Press that there were teens as young as 13 at the event, some of whom had come from Philadelphia.
"I asked one of them, 'How did you know about this?' He said, 'It was on Facebook,"' Butler said. "I said, 'Does your mother know where you are?' It's like 11 o'clock at night. He tells me she doesn't care. And I said, 'Oh, my goodness. I guess that's part of the problem."'
Butler said witnesses who were not injured in the shooting were taken by bus from the temple to the Chester police station.
"That's where our detective division is. We have to interview everybody," Butler told the Philadelphia Daily News. He said he understood that private security was at the event.
The incident follows a rash of shootings in the Chester area last summer that left four people dead over an eight-day period, which led Butler to declare a state of emergency and a 9 p.m. curfew. The city had two dozen homicides in 2010.
According to police, the local drug trade was the cause of the majority of the violence.
"This part of town don't like that part of town, and these are babies, these are children. And now it's erupted into gunplay. They don't know what life is about," local resident Leslie Staples told WPVI.
Police are saying that witnesses are not cooperating, but that they feel that with over 100 people present at the temple at the time, someone must know who opened fire. Officers have told WPVI that they fear a "Don't Snitch" mentality still has too strong a hold on this community.
Anyone with information should contact Detective Randy Bothwell at (610) 447-8430.