Teen in custody in connection with Lawncrest triple murder known to police: sources
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Two teenagers have been charged with firearms violations in connection with a deadly shooting in Philadelphia's Lawncrest neighborhood last week. Sources say one of the teens is familiar with Philadelphia police.
Right now, police have a 16-year-old and a 15-year-old in custody.
Security video exclusively obtained by CBS News Philadelphia shows the moments an SUV crashed into a parked minivan on Wyoming Avenue in Feltonville Friday afternoon before sources say two teens are seen running from the scene.
We blurred their faces because they're minors, but you can see the damage to the SUV from the crash. It was traveling at such a high speed that its airbags deployed.
Police confirm a gun was found in the SUV. Sources say it had an extended magazine and was loaded with 29 live rounds.
The teens were arrested Friday and charged with firearms violations.
Sources say police are familiar with the 15-year-old in custody. The teen is on electronic monitoring with juvenile probation.
Because of that, detectives were able to track his locations before, during and after the shooting in Lawncrest that took the lives of three teens.
Sources say the 15-year-old's locations coincide with him being at the scene in Lawncrest during the shooting, in the area of Frankford Avenue when a 16-year-old was dropped off at Jefferson Frankford Hospital and in the area of Wyoming Avenue for the crash and arrest.
Sources also say the SUV that crashed was seen along the 5900 block of Palmetto Street in Lawncrest during the deadly shooting.
The three victims were identified as 17-year-old Malik Ballard of Frankford; 18-year-old Khalif Frezghi of East Mount Airy and 14-year-old Salah Fleming of North Philadelphia.
"I'm told that he was a very eager student to learn and very smart," said Veronica Joyner, the CEO of the Mathematics, Civics, and Sciences Charter School.
Joyner is the CEO of the mathematics school where Fleming was an eighth grader.
"It's very sad because our children will be grieving today for a classmate," Joyner said. "Here, we're like a family so everyone gets attached together, and now, we've lost another."
In addition to the three teens killed Friday, a fourth person -- a 16-year-old -- was shot in the chest. He is expected to survive. He is an 11th grade student at the Mathematics, Civics, and Sciences Charter School.
We're working to learn whether anyone else is expected to be charged with murder in connection with the shooting.
