PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Three police officers have been charged with manslaughter and reckless endangerment after firing their weapons in the direction of a crowd of people exiting a high school football game outside of Philadelphia, killing an 8-year-old girl and injuring three people.
A grand jury recommended charges against the three Sharon Hill Police officers, Devon Smith, Sean Dolan, and Brian Devaney, in the August 27 shooting that killed Fanta Bility. Murder charges previously filed against two Black teenagers for firing the gunshots that prompted the officers to shoot were also dropped Tuesday, according to a news release from the Delaware County District Attorney’s office.
Each officer was charged with 10 counts of reckless endangerment and one count of manslaughter and involuntary manslaughter, according to the charging documents.
According to court records, all three men had their preliminary arraignments Tuesday morning, and each was released on unsecured $500,000 bail. A message left with law firm McMonagle, Perri, McHugh, Mischak & Davis, which is representing all three men, was not immediately returned Tuesday.
Investigators say Angelo “AJ” Ford, 16, got into an argument with Hasein Strand, 19, and exchanged gunfire outside of the Aug. 27 football game in Sharon Hill, a small borough just north of the Philadelphia International Airport. That gunfire included two gunshots in the direction of the three officers, who were monitoring the crowd as it left the game, authorities said.
The officers returned that gunfire, firing their weapons toward a car they believed was involved in the initial gunfire, striking the car and members of the crowd of people leaving the game. Investigators later determined that the women in the car were not responsible for the initial gunfire.
Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer had previously said there was a high probability that Bility and three of four others who were injured by gunfire had been struck by police. He said Tuesday that investigators are now certain they were struck by police gunfire.
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