Three Pennsylvania police officers have been charged in connection with the shooting death of an 8-year-old girl and the wounding of three other people outside a high school football game, officials said.
Sharon Hill police officers Devon Smith, 34, Sean Dolan, 25, and Brian Devaney, 41, were hit with a total of 12 counts of voluntary and involuntary manslaughter and reckless endangerment for the Aug. 27 shooting, the Delaware County District Attorney’s Office said Tuesday.
The shooting occurred outside Academy Park High School in Sharon Hill as fans were leaving a game against Pennsbury High School, prosecutors said.
Police said Angelo “AJ” Ford, 16, got into an argument with Hasein Strand, 19, that escalated to gunfire about a block away from the stadium.
The three cops were stationed opposite the stadium’s exit as fans were leaving and a car turned onto a street directly in front of them as bullets rang out, according to District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer.
The cops “discharged their service weapons in the direction of the Academy Park football field,” Stollsteimer said.
Fanta Bility, 8, was killed in the hail of gunfire.
“We have now concluded beyond a reasonable doubt that it was, in fact, shots from the officers that struck and killed Fanta Bility and injured three others,” Stollsteimer said.
“The entire Borough grieves for Fanta Bility and we again convey our deepest sympathies to her family and everyone affected by the shooting,” the DA’s statement read.
“Today’s indictment of our police officers brings us to another solemn moment. Today we must reflect on our safety, and on those who are sworn to protect and serve,” he added.
Investigators determined that the officers opened fire in the direction of the football field after two shots were fired in their direction while they were monitoring the exiting crowd, prosecutors said.
The three officers were placed on paid administrative leave after the shooting.
Bail was set at $500,000 for each of them, and preliminary court hearings have been set for Jan. 27.
“This is a terrible tragedy that was caused by armed and violent criminals who turned a high school football game into a crime scene in which an innocent child lost her life and others were seriously injured,” the defendants’ attorneys, Raymond Driscoll, Steven Patton and Charles Gibbs, said in a joint statement.
“These three officers ran to the sound of gunshots and risked their own lives to protect that community. These three good men are innocent, and remain heartbroken for all who have suffered because of this senseless violence,” they added.
Strand, one of the teens involved in the argument, pleaded guilty to illegal possession of a firearm and aggravated assault for his wounding of a child during the gunfight.
He will serve a sentence of 32 to 64 months behind bars and will remain under court supervision until 2030, ABC News reported.
The other teen “remains charged with serious crimes for his attempt to kill Strand,” officials said.
Bruce Castor Jr., a lawyer for the Bility family, thanked Stollsteimer and the grand jury for leveling charges against the cops.
“The family appreciates that the District Attorney has kept the family informed at every stage of this investigation,” Castor said.
“From the beginning, he assured them that he would seek justice for Fanta, and today’s charges indicate that he’s done exactly that. They made the right call,” he added.
