17-year-old arrested in connection with Grays Ferry mass shooting
Brandon Fischer is charged with murder and related crimes in the shooting, which left three people dead and 10 others wounded.
A 17-year-old boy has been charged with murder and related crimes in connection with the mass shooting in Grays Ferry that left three people dead and 10 others wounded, police said Friday.
Brandon Fischer was taken into custody Friday morning, after police detectives and SWAT officers searched a Grays Ferry home blocks away from the scene of the July shooting on the 1500 block of South Etting Street.
Fischer’s arrest is the fifth and latest in the shooting, in which police say 13 people fired guns during a block party attended by more than 100 people. Jihad Gray, 35, Daquan Brown, 21, and Terrell Frazier, 22, were charged with murder and related offenses last month, and investigators say other arrests are expected.
Dieve Drumgoole, the father of one of the shooting victims, was charged with weapons violations after police say he threw a gun into the Schuylkill after the shooting, then reported the weapon stolen after police started making arrests in the case.
Another suspect, Christopher Battle, 24, remains on the run, police said.
The gunfire erupted in the early morning of July 7 when dozens of bullets were fired down the street as scores of people gathered for a block party.
Police initially believed the party had been targeted, but detectives now say they believe that someone at the gathering shot once into the air or toward a car or person passing by. The sound triggered half a dozen men who, fearing they were under fire, drew their weapons and indiscriminately sprayed more than 120 shots down the block, police said.
Three people — Zahir Wylie, 23, of Overbrook; Jason Reese, 19, of West Philadelphia; and Azir Harris, 27, who used a wheelchair after being paralyzed in an earlier shooting — died from their injuries.
Police said they used surveillance footage, along with physical evidence and witness statements, to identify the gunmen. But they say it’s still unclear which of those charged fired the shots that killed the victims.
The investigation continues.
Staff writer Ellie Rushing contributed to this article.