File photo: Police vehicles are parked at Roxborough High School near where multiple people were shot in Philadelphia, Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2022. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Philadelphia police have announced the arrest of a fourth suspect in September’s ambush shooting outside a Philadelphia high school that killed a 14-year-old and wounded four other teenagers after a football scrimmage.
Police said Monday the 16-year-old is the fifth person authorities have identified as believed to have been involved in the Sept. 27 shooting outside of Roxborough High School. One 16-year-old suspect identified in the case remains at large.
Authorities said five people jumped from a parked SUV and opened fire on teens who were walking away from an athletic field at the high school. Nicholas Elizalde, 14, of suburban Havertown, was killed and three other teens were wounded and rushed to a hospital. One was treated at the scene.
Police have said they don’t believe Elizalde was one of the intended targets of the attack. They said one of the shooters chased a 17-year-old victim down the street, striking him with shots to the leg and arm, and tried to fire as he stood over the victim but the gun either jammed or was out of bullets.
Police have said they were seeking a total of six suspects: five shooters and a driver. At the time they said four suspects had been identified, they said those suspects would face charges of murder, four counts of aggravated assault, firearms crimes and other counts.
The shooting drew national attention around the U.S. amid a string of mass shootings and also came just after Philadelphia surpassed 400 homicides for the year, only slightly behind the pace of last year’s toll, which ended up being the highest in at least six decades.
Hours before the shooting, Mayor Jim Kenney, a Democrat, signed an order banning guns and deadly weapons from the city’s indoor and outdoor recreational spaces, including parks, basketball courts and pools. A judge barred the city from enforcing that order, siding with a legal challenge citing a state law that prevents any city or county from passing gun-control measures.
If you or someone you know has been affected by gun violence in Philadelphia, you can find grief support and resources online.