CHESTER,PA — Bullets flew in the city’s West End Thursday.
First by four males, who police say aimed their sights at a passing driver they believed robbed them a month ago, firing round after round until the driver eventually crashed his car into a parked vehicle to escape.
The driver is not believed to have been injured as a result of Thursday’s incident.
When one of the shooters — a juvenile who is out on bail awaiting trial involving a school bus shooting last year — turned his gun on police during a subsequent pursuit, the officer fired back, injuring three in the car.
One of the three male suspects shot by police remained hospitalized Thursday night, according to authorities. Two others were treated at Crozer-Chester Medical Center and released.
Two police officers involved in the incident, including one of whom was hired in recent weeks and was still in training, were uninjured. The officers will be confined to desk duty pending the outcome of an investigation by the Delaware County District Attorney’s office, a routine step in all officer-related shootings.
The injured were among four males in a 1997 white Crown Victoria, the vehicle from which a juvenile passenger briefly exited and fired directly at the two police officers, according to Deputy Police Chief John Finnegan and Detective Capt. Joseph Massi.
The officers were chasing the vehicle because they suspected it was involved in a shooting at West Second and Yarnall streets about 2:30 p.m.
All four suspects, including the juvenile who will be charged as an adult, are facing two counts of attempted murder, among other offenses, authorities said. Two weapons were recovered as part of the ongoing investigation.
County detectives are leading the probe, which was still at full throttle at press time. Anyone with information is asked to contact Detective Thomas Worrilow at (610) 891-4700.
“It’s just too early to say exactly what happened here,” Finnegan said just hours after the investigation got under way.
Late Thursday afternoon, the bullet-peppered white Crown Victoria was pulled to the curb on Seventh Street, between Wilson and Hayes. It, along with a 1995 blue Buick and a marked city police vehicle, were the focus of dozens of city and county authorities at that scene.
The police activity drew several onlookers. The crime scene, one of three, was roped off by yellow tape.
“I can smell the sulfur,” said one woman as she approached the scene.
“I am so glad no one was killed,” said another woman.
Taking advantage of the unseasonably warm temperature, a longtime city man said he was washing his car when he heard the shots.
“I heard three … then I heard a burst of about nine,” he said.
With several friends on the police force, he said, “I called my cop buddies to make sure they were OK.”
According to police, the suspects in the white Crown Victoria had fired at the driver of the blue Buick. At one point, the driver of the Buick crashed into a parked car, but fled again from the persistent shooters. While that call was reported as “shots fired” in the area of Second and Reaney streets, the shooting occurred at Second and Yarnall, Massi said.
Information forwarded to the 911 dispatcher included a description of the vehicle, as well as its location. Police located the vehicle.
At a second crime scene at Seventh and Harwick, just blocks away from where detectives were processing the cars, more police were busy marking at least 19 shell casings and/or bullet fragments into evidence.
It was there, according to a police press release, the Crown Victoria pulled to a stop as officers narrowed in.
“The front passenger exited the vehicle and fired numerous rounds from a hand gun at the approaching officers. Officers took a defensive posture and exchanged gunfire with the passenger,” the release states.
The passenger then jumped back into the Crown Victoria. Police gave chase, eventually stopping the vehicle at West Seventh and Hayes streets. Also, at least six cartridges were recovered from the scene at Second and Yarnall.
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