PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The person of interest in the triple shooting that left a 14-year-old boy dead on Halloween night fatally shot himself after a police chase in Ohio, according to Bensalem police.
Around 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, authorities said a large fight broke out among juveniles at Bristol Pike and Woodbine Avenue in Bensalem. Someone in a parked car fired about a dozen shots into the crowd.
A 19-year-old and a 17-year-old were wounded. Fourteen-year-old Peter Romano was fatally shot in the chest.
"Getting this call was a surprise on Halloween night," said Bensalem Public Safety Director Bill McVey. "Of all nights, you have hundreds to thousands of children out. And from something like this to play out in a suburban town is an absolute disgrace."
Nineteen-year-old Sean Hughes, of Morrisville, was identified as a person of interest based on tips from the public, McVey said.
Using surveillance cameras at the scene, police also identified the car used in the shooting as a gray 2014 Hyundai Elantra. Investigators ran the license plate and discovered the car was previously reported stolen from Bristol Township. The plate was entered into the national database.
On Thursday, the same car with the same plate was spotted in Marysville, Ohio, about 30 miles northwest of Columbus. Police tried to pull the driver over but he refused to stop.
Authorities said the driver eventually got out of the car and ran on foot. When police finally caught up with him, he was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He was identified as Hughes.
The Bensalem Township Police Department is still investigating if anyone else was involved in the shooting, including any other occupants of the car at the time, but they're not releasing any additional information at this moment.
Police also said they understand emotions are high and some people "may wish to take the law into their own hands. This must not happen."
McVey added: "We're urging the public: Please continue to work with us. Your tips help, and tips are helping us bring this case to justice and appropriately close it, which hopefully gives the Romano family some sense of solace during this horrible time for them."
