PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The Sharon Hill police officers charged this week in the shooting death of 8-year-old Fanta Bility have been fired. Sharon Hill Borough Council voted Thursday night 6-1 to remove Devon Smith, Sean Dolan and Brian Devaney from the police force.
Passions ran high during a public comment period ahead of the decision.
“Any police officer that's worth his weight would want the person to be fired,” said one resident.
“What you're doing to our three police officers is wrong,” said another. “Do I think they need to be retrained? Absolutely. Do I think that they need to be prosecuted like criminals? No.”
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The men are charged with voluntary and involuntary manslaughter and reckless endangerment in Bility's killing.
It happened in August outside an Academy Park High School football game when, investigators say, two teenagers started shooting at each other and police fired their guns at a car, mistakenly thinking it was involved.
Lawyers for the three now-former officers say their clients are innocent and they're heartbroken for all who have suffered.