After a mass shooting in Philadelphia over the weekend that killed three people and injured at least 11 more, authorities have brought one suspect into custody and issued an arrest warrant for another.
The Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office has approved arrest warrants for two people, and one of them is in police custody while the other remains at large, Assistant District Attorney Joanne Pescatore told reporters.
The one in custody is identified as 18-year-old Quran Garner. He is facing multiple charges, including two counts of aggravated assault, and two counts of aggravated assault on law enforcement officers, Pescatore said. Garner didn’t have a license to carry a gun, she said.
The unnamed person is also facing multiple charges. They include attempted murder, aggravated assault, simple assault, recklessly endangering another person, conspiracy, violation of the Uniform Firearms Act, possession of an instrument of crime, tampering with evidence, and obstruction of justice.
Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner said the charges against Garner and another suspect, whose name has not been released, are “in connection to what we anticipate are non-fatal shootings.”
When asked to describe how the confrontation began, Pescatore said that Micah Townes was walking down the street in close proximity to Garner. Townes then passes down the same side of the street as Jackson and two other men, for one of which an arrest warrant has been issued.
“As he’s passing by, words are exchanged,” she said. “As words are exchanged, then Gregory Jackson takes a swing at Micah Townes, striking him in the face. It’s at that point that the other male—who we have an arrest warrant for—begins in the melee at that point.”
She continued: “Micah Townes is then thrown against a window while they are beating on him. At some point you see Gregory Jackson, who did have a permit to carry, pull out a gun.”
At that point, Townes is at the middle of South Street while Jackson starts to fire at him. Townes shot back and wounded Jackson, which ultimately killed him. The unnamed person who police issued an arrest warrant for “picks up the gun that Gregory Jackson had and gives it to another male in a blue hoodie, who then leaves the scene.”
The unnamed man remained at the scene and placed pressure on Jackson’s wound. He also provided his name, address, and other details to police.
“It’s at that point that Quran Garner then begins firing down South Street in the location where this melee took place,” Pescatore said, adding that the shooting happened about 20 to 30 seconds after Jackson was already down.
It was then that Philadelphia police “began to shoot, after Quran Garner has a gun out and looks in their direction,” she told reporters. “They shoot at him, shooting his hand.”
Garner fled the scene and encountered police officers at another site, where he told them about his injured hand. The officers placed him in a patrol car and transported him to the hospital, where he remains on Monday undergoing surgery for his injuries sustained that night, she said.
Townes, who police have identified as a victim and is not being charged in the case, is “in serious condition” at a hospital as of Monday. This is why the unnamed person is being charged with attempted murder, she said.
The gun that Garner used was a ghost gun, which had an extended magazine, she noted.
She said at least four guns were involved. Three of the guns were 9mm, and another is a 40-caliber gun.
Two handguns have been recovered from the scene.
The two other people who died were innocent bystanders. They have been identified as 22-year-old Kristopher Minners and 27-year-old Alexis Quinn.
Of the shootings, arguments was the most common shooting motive, triggering half of the shootings, while the second most common motive was drug trafficking or transactions, at 18 percent, according to the report.
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