BENSALEM, Pa. (KYW Newsradio) — A 14-year-old boy was killed and two other teenagers were wounded after shots were fired during a large fight on Halloween night in Bensalem, Bucks County.
Around 7:30 p.m., a fight broke out among young people in a shopping plaza parking lot on Bristol Pike and Woodbine Avenue, police said. The situation escalated when someone in a parked car fired 12 shots at the group, authorities said.
Three people were hit, including a 14-year-old, a 17-year-old and a 19-year-old. The youngest victim, now identified as middle schooler Pietro Romano, died at the hospital.
The other two are in stable condition. The 19-year-old was released from the hospital, while the 17-year-old is scheduled to undergo surgery for leg injuries.
“This was a horrific night here in Bensalem,” William McVey, township director of public safety, told reporters at the scene. “We’re asking anyone who was in the area — there were multiple kids who fled the scene — to please contact us.”
The car that the shooter was in sped off north on Bristol Pike, police said. Authorities did not initially have a description of the vehicle. They were also unsure if the shooter was alone and if they had been involved in the fight when it started.
“We don’t know that yet — whether they were [involved in the fight] initially and then got into a car, or they were just a passerby car that had some relation, or no relation,” McVey added.
Police are looking through surveillance footage from the businesses in the shopping center. At least one, a hair salon, was hit by gunfire.
Bensalem police ask anyone with more information to contact Detective Brian Oliverio at 215-633-3669 or Detective Larry Leith at 215-633-3713.
Anonymous tips can also be submitted online.