PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A 21-year-old man has been arrested and charged in the shooting of a teenager at a North Philadelphia recreation center last year.
Djean Williams faces attempted murder, assault and gun violations, accused of shooting a 15-year-old boy outside of Dendy Recreation Center at 10th and Oxford streets last April, police say.
Police say Williams rode a bike up to the rec center and started to shoot at the boy, striking him in the back. He was hospitalized and has since physically recovered.
Just a week before that shooting, city officials had gathered at that very same place to announce the installation of security cameras outside the perimeter of 14 city recreation centers, including Dendy, to widen “safe play zones” and improve public safety. The long-delayed move followed a rash of shootings at and near rec centers in recent years.
Authorities say surveillance videos and other “crucial evidence” led them to Williams.
Months prior to the shooting, in November of 2021, the defendant pleaded guilty to gun charges in a deal with prosecutors and was sentenced to three years of probation.
He had been charged a year prior with other gun charges, but it’s unclear what happened in that case.