A 17-year-old is charged in connection with the shootings at a party during the spring in Fairmount Park that killed a teenage girl and injured four other people.
Zayaan Carroll was arrested by U.S. Marshals, city law enforcement officials said during a press conference Thursday. Carroll is alleged to be one of two shooters who opened fire at the party on June 14 on the 2300 block of Greenland Drive. There had been about 200 people at the party attending what police described as a "meetup" organized via social media, Philadelphia police said.
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The girl who died, Isya Stanley, 17, and the other four people who were shot – all between the ages of 14 and 18 – were innocent victims caught in the crossfire from Carroll and the other shooter, Deputy Commissioner Frank Vanore said.
"They were just in the wrong place at the wrong time," he said. One of the shooter's weapons had been modified with a switch, Vanore said.
The Fairmount Park shooting is linked to another shooting at a party in the Kingsessing neighborhood of Southwest Philly on July 4 where nine people were shot, including a 19-year-old male, who was killed.
"The social media matched up," Vanore said. "So, we know there was a connection."
Police were led to Carroll after officers recovered the gun used in shooting during a traffic stop. Assistant District Attorney Anthony Voci Jr., of the Philadelphia D.A.'s office, said police connected the person with the gun to Carroll by his phone. Investigators then matched the ballistics of the firearm used to kill Stanley to the gun found during the stop, and Carroll's social media posts and phone records allegedly link him to the fatal shooting.
Carroll is being held at the Juvenile Justice Services Center. He is being charged with murder, aggravated assault and related firearms offenses.
At Thursday's press conference, Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker thanked the help of "brave members of the community and neighborhoods who step up and say this isn't right. We will not live in fear."
