Federal authorities have announced the arrest of the fifth and final suspect wanted in an ambush shooting that killed a 14-year-old and wounded several other teenagers outside a Philadelphia high school after a football scrimmage last year.
U.S. marshals in Philadelphia said 17-year-old Dayron Burney-Thorn was taken into custody Monday in Philadelphia’s Germantown neighborhood after more than a year on the run. Authorities said he jumped from a fourth-story window in an unsuccessful effort to elude capture and was taken to a hospital for treatment.
Burney-Thorn, also wanted in a separate homicide a day before the September 2022 shooting near Roxborough High School, had been sought in the Atlanta area but deputy marshals later learned he might have returned to the city and tracked him to a Germantown apartment early Monday, officials said.
The reward for information leading to Burney-Thorn’s capture had been increased to $50,000, the U.S. Marshals Eastern Pennsylvania Violent Crime Fugitive Task Force said. It’s unclear whether he has an attorney; a message seeking comment was sent to the Defender Association of Philadelphia.
A judge in January ordered an adult and three other juveniles to stand trial in the shooting. All are charged as adults with murder, aggravated assault, firearms crimes and other counts.
Authorities said five people jumped from a parked SUV and opened fire on teens who were walking away from an athletic field at Roxborough High, Nicholas Elizalde, 14, of suburban Havertown, was killed, and three other teens were taken to a hospital with wounds; another was treated at the scene. Police have said they don’t believe Elizalde was one of the intended targets. They said one of the shooters chased a 17-year-old victim down the street, striking him with shots to the leg and arm, and tried to fire as he stood over the victim, but the gun either jammed or was out of bullets.
The shooting drew national attention around the U.S. amid a string of mass shootings and also came just after Philadelphia surpassed 400 homicides for the year. Hours earlier, Mayor Jim Kenney, a Democrat, had signed an order banning deadly weapons from indoor and outdoor recreational spaces including parks, basketball courts and pools. A judge barred enforcement of the order after a legal challenge.
