Man Charged With Killing Innocent Bystander in Norristown

A Montgomery County man was arrested after he killed an innocent bystander while shooting at another man in Norristown last year, police said. 

Damien Wilson, 19, of Norristown, was arrested Thursday by the U.S. Marshals at a home on North Cecil street in Philadelphia. 

On October 7, 2022, at 2:02 p.m., police responded to the 800 block of Arch Street in Norristown for a report of a shooting. When they arrived they found 47-year-old Anthony Vitelli suffering from a gunshot wound to the chest. Vitelli was taken to the hospital where he was later pronounced dead. Investigators found eight 9MM fired cartridge casings and a deformed projectile at the scene of the shooting. 

Police later obtained surveillance video of the shooting which showed a tall man wearing all black clothing and pink socks running and firing a gun. Investigators later identified the gunman as Wilson and determined Vitelli was not his intended target.

Investigators believe Wilson was trying to shoot another man as a form of retaliation after the man's friend shot Wilson in the leg back on July 27, 2022, in Norristown. The man was among a group of people at whom Wilson fired during Vitelli’s killing, police said. That man shot back once, but detectives believe it was Wilson’s gunfire that killed Vitelli.

Surveillance video shows Vitelli and another man in the parking lot at the same time that a group of three people – including Wilson’s intended target – are standing at the corner of the lot near the rear sidewalk area, investigators said. As Vitelli approaches the rear sidewalk, the gunman opens fire on the group at the corner of the parking lot.

The video shows the gunman running out from the other side of the parking lot. He’s wearing a black hoodie, black pants and black face mask, as well as white gloves and pink socks. The video shows him firing multiple rounds as he runs toward the group.

Detectives found eight bullet casings and a “deformed projectile” at the scene, the DA's office said.

Investigators identified Wilson as the suspect after various interviews, multiple surveillance videos, text message logs and cellphone records. He was also wanted for a separate August 2022 incident in which detectives say he entered his ex-girlfriend’s Norristown home without permission and choked her.

“The evidence indicates this was an attempted retaliatory killing that instead killed an innocent man. We are working to interrupt this cycle of violence in Norristown and elsewhere in Montgomery County to make our communities safe from these senseless killings by young men with guns,” Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele said. “I also want to commend the U.S. Marshals, who worked diligently to find this murderer and safely get him off the streets.”

Wilson is charged with first and third degree murder, person not to possess a firearm, carrying a firearm without a license, possessing an instrument of crime and reckless endangerment. He is awaiting arraignment at which time a preliminary hearing date will be set. Bail is not available for first-degree murder charges in Montgomery County.