Cops: Dad brings kids, ages 2 and 3, to shooting

THE YEAR is winding down, but one man sneaked in his application for parent of the year Thursday when he brought his two toddlers to a shooting in Upper Darby and then led cops on a high-speed chase with his kids in the car, police said.

The chase ended when the suspect, Eric Pagan Afanador, 37, crashed his car into a building and tried to flee on foot with the children in his arms, said Upper Darby police Superintendent Michael Chitwood.

About 12:20 p.m., police responded to a report of a shooting on Sheffield Street near Guilford Road and found a 19-year-old man with a gunshot wound to his shoulder.

The victim, who did not cooperate with police, was taken to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, where he was listed in serious condition, Chitwood said.

Three .45-caliber shell casings were found at the scene, and police were able to determine from a witness that the shooter fled in an older-model Chevy Lumina.

Chitwood said that police spotted Afanador driving that car shortly after the shooting and that a high-speed chase ensued before he lost police and crashed into a business on Baltimore Avenue near Rigby.

Responding officers were shocked when they saw Afanador running down Rigby Avenue with his 2-year-old son and 3-year-old daughter under his arms, Chitwood said. Apparently, he'd taken the kids out of their car seats after the crash and tried to flee police with them.

"Give me a break. He takes his kids to a shooting!" Chitwood said. "Fortunately, he didn't abandon them, too."

Police said the shooting was motivated by an incident outside the victim's house about two weeks ago. According to Chitwood, Afanador's 10-year-old son with another woman lives on the same block as the victim. One day, the boy was "play-boxing" on the street with other young children when the 19-year-old came out and started boxing with the kids.

During the encounter, the 19-year-old allegedly punched Afanador's son, inciting Afanador to come back and shoot the man two weeks later while he was watching his younger kids, police said.

Afanador, of Lansdowne, was charged with attempted murder, endangering the welfare of children and related offenses.

His young son and daughter, who were uninjured, were turned over to their grandmother, Chitwood said. The children's mother was in school at the time of the incident, according to police.