PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Sharon Hill Police officers, in response to a shooting at a high school football stadium, likely and unintentionally shot and killed an eight-year-old girl and injured three others including her sister, the Delaware County District Attorney's office said Thursday.
"Tragically, our investigation has now determined that there is a high probability that the responsive gunfire of the Sharon Hill Police Officers struck four victims, including the shots that killed 8-year-old Fanta Bility and wounded her sister," District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer said in a news release.
"The death of Fanta and the wounding of her sister and the other students are a heart-breaking tragedy for her family, her friends, and the entire Delaware County community."
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The gunfire happened Friday evening at the Academy Park High School football field, when Academy Park was playing Pennsbury High.
Fanta was leaving the game with her sister, 12, while three officers were watching the departing crowd.
According to Stollsteimer, someone fired a shot in the direction of the police officers. That shot was among a flurry of initial gunfire that wounded another person. Police then fired back, leading to the shots that killed Bility and grazed her sister, Stollsteimer said.
Stollsteimer said the investigation is "still in its early stages and we have a lot more work to do." They want people who attended the game to speak with them.
In a statement, the Sharon Hill Borough Council said the police department "has been fully cooperating with the District Attorney’s investigation." They said the officers involved were placed on administrative leave.
The borough council will also be using an outside firm to investigate whether "all our policies and procedures were followed in relation to this incident."
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