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Pleasantville suspect FaceTimed shooter with the location of target in school bleachers, documents say

Shahid Dixon stated that he was on FaceTime with alleged shooter Alvin Wyatt, who he advised that Ibn Abdullah was present at the game and provided … Abdullah’s location in the bleachers, Dixon’s affidavit of probable cause states.

Scene of a shooting at the Pleasantville High School football field during a game against Camden Central High School, Saturday, Nov.16, 2019.
Scene of a shooting at the Pleasantville High School football field during a game against Camden Central High School, Saturday, Nov.16, 2019.Read moreVERNON OGRODNEK / For The Inquirer

A suspect in Friday’s shooting at the Pleasantville, N.J., high school football field during a game called the alleged gunman minutes before the attack and told him that the intended target was “in the bleachers,” according to court records.

Shahid Dixon stated that he was on FaceTime with Alvin Wyatt, and advised him that Ibn Abdullah was at the game, providing his location in the stands, Dixon’s affidavit of probable cause states.

Two juveniles, a 10-year-old boy named Micah and an unidentified 15-year-old male, were sitting near Abdullah, Dixon’s affidavit says, and sustained gunshot wounds.

Micah, a fifth grader at Atlantic City’s Uptown School Complex, was critically injured by a bullet that struck him in the neck, and remains unconscious and in grave condition at Cooper University Hospital in Camden. In a Facebook message, his mother, Angela Tennant, posted: “The prayers of the righteous availeth much. Happy Terrific Tuesday.”

» READ MORE: N.J. firefighter recalls words to boy shot at Camden-Pleasantville football game: ‘I told him to keep fighting’

The affidavits filed for the six defendants paint a chilling picture of a shooting orchestrated by Atlantic City-area men who were not dissuaded from violence by the place they found their target: a state high school playoff game.

The Pleasantville-Camden game was in the third quarter, with Camden leading by 6-0, when shots rang out about 8:30 p.m., sending players, coaches, and fans fleeing the stadium, which held the largest crowd at a Pleasantville football game in at least 20 years. Six men have been arrested in the shootings, including Abdullah. All face detention hearings Thursday in Superior Court in Mays Landing.

Investigators are looking at a prior Atlantic City homicide as a possible motive and the defendants’ possible connections to drug trafficking, but Pleasantville Police Chief Sean Riggin said motive was beside the point.

“I’m not going to dignify this with a motive,” Riggin said. “There’s no motive to shoot a 10-year-old.”

» READ MORE: Camden, Pleasantville deserve loud cheers, not surreal silence, after Friday shooting during playoff game | Phil Anastasia

Before he was taken to the hospital, Abdullah identified Wyatt, 31, as the man who shot him, Wyatt’s affidavit states. Wyatt was tackled in the end zone by officers “who observed him running away from the scene” via the handicapped ramp, Riggin said. He was charged with three counts of attempted murder, unlawful possession of a weapon, and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose.

His clothing — a hooded dark jacket and gray sweatpants — matched video taken of the shooting that showed a man holding a handgun in his left hand and shooting at Abdullah, the affidavits say. A semiautomatic handgun was recovered from under the bleachers’ handicapped ramp.

Dixon’s affidavit states that an off-duty law enforcement officer attending the game observed three men “calmly walking from the field, enter a blue BMW, and aggressively exit the parking lot.”

Absecon police eventually stopped a blue BMW with Pennsylvania plates near McKinley and Ohio Avenues in Atlantic City.

» READ MORE: Hugs, prayers, and therapy dogs: Pleasantville High tries to cope with shooting

Inside the vehicle were Dixon, 27; Tyrell Dorn, 28, of Atlantic City; Michael C. Mack, 27, of Atlantic City; and Vance B. Golden Jr., 26, of Pleasantville, who were charged with weapons offenses. Dorn admitted to throwing the handgun out of the vehicle on a Route 30 bridge leading to Atlantic City, the affidavits state.

He denied that the gun was his and said it was in the vehicle when he left the football game. All four were charged with unlawful gun possession, as was Abdullah, who was found with a 9mm handgun in the waistband of his pants.

Abdullah remains in critical condition at AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center, Atlantic City campus, authorities said.

The remainder of the game will be played Wednesday at 4 p.m. at Lincoln Financial Field. It will resume at the 4:58 mark of the third quarter, when the game was suspended.

The Camden school board recognized four security officers credited with escorting Camden High players and fans to safety during a meeting Tuesday night. The crowd gave a standing ovation to Willie Womick, Rasheed Hammond, Lamar Wesley, and Steven Wesley. Terri Allen, the district’s security director, presented each with a certificate.

”What they did was nothing short of amazing,” said Superintendent Katrina McCombs.

McCombs said the district’s traumatic response plan, which provides coping and psychological assistance, will remain in effect for several weeks. Therapy dogs were brought in Monday and counseling sessions held, she said.

”We know there is a healing process,” the superintendent said.