Police arrested a suspect and identified an alleged gunman in connection to a caught on camera brawl that led to a shooting in Darby Borough Sunday.
Tamir Austin, 18, was arrested and charged with rioting and other related offenses.
Police say Austin was one of several dozen people involved in a large fight that was captured on surveillance video on 3rd Street and Greenway Avenue Sunday. Police released a cellphone video of the brawl which showed several men and women attacking each other with weapons. At one point a woman runs after the person recording the fight and begins to attack him or her.
The video also shows a man in a black shirt pull out what appears to be a gun.
"You could see the guy pulling the gun out of his pocket," said Darby Police Chief Robert Smythe. "He's got fatigue pants on. He takes the gun out."
Police say the gunman opened fire though the cellphone video doesn't show the actual shooting. Six rounds in all were fired and at least one bullet struck Kiana Pittman's home.
"It's very appalling," Pittman said. "I mean the neighborhood has definitely come down. But for it to actually affect my house directly? It's very scary because someone could've been in there."
Police identified the gunman as 23-year-old Raheem Pressley and issued a warrant for his arrest Monday.
Pressley is currently on parole for a drug conviction and detectives found evidence of drugs when they searched his last known address in Collingdale, according to investigators.
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"The one guy with the gun, I mean he's on parole for dealing drugs," Smythe said. "So what you got? We find drugs in the house that we turned over to Collingdale and he's got a gun. What the hell is he doing on the street?"
Police also issued an arrest warrant for Pressley's girlfriend, Tessa Mims. Mims, who police say was involved in the brawl, faces aggravated assault, rioting and weapons possession charges.
No one was seriously hurt or killed during the incident. Police credited the person who took the cellphone video with helping them track down the suspects.
"If we didn't have that film we wouldn't have known who this guy was," Smythe said. "That person was a very brave person."
Police also say they hope the person will serve as a good example for a neighborhood they believe wants their help but is often too afraid to speak out and report a crime.
"You can't have it both ways," Smythe said. "If you want your street back we'll be happy to take it back for you. But we need people to come forward and say, 'I've seen this and I've seen that.'"
A large meeting aimed at strengthening the trust between the Darby Borough community and police is scheduled to take place next Monday at 7 p.m. at the Darby Recreation Center.
