PHILADELPHIA — Philadelphia police are searching for a 16-year-old who is expected to face murder charges over last week’s fatal shooting outside Roxborough High School, authorities said Tuesday.
An arrest warrant was approved Tuesday afternoon for Dayron Burney-Thorne, who police said participated in the shooting that left a 14-year-old boy dead and four other teens wounded after a football scrimmage near the school.
Homicide Capt. Jason Smith declined to specify if detectives believe Burney-Thorne was one of the five shooters who jumped out of an SUV and began firing in the ambush-style attack, or if the teen might have served as a getaway driver. And Smith said Burney-Thorne was just one of eight persons of interest police were investigating in this crime. Smith also said detectives were probing the possibility that some in the group may have committed other recent shootings.
“This was definitely a well-orchestrated shooting,” Smith said of the Roxborough case at a news conference. “These individuals were being very careful to not leave identifiers (behind).”
In another new development, Smith said police had recently recovered a second car that was used to “chauffeur” the shooters to and from a stolen SUV they used in the attack. Still, a week after the crime, a number of questions remained unanswered — including why the group targeted the teens in the first place.
Commissioner Danielle Outlaw urged Burney-Thorne and coconspirators to turn themselves in, saying that failing to do so was “just delaying the inevitable.” She also said anyone with information should “do the right thing” by encouraging the suspects to surrender, or by providing information to police.
“There is an entire generation of our children who are beginning to believe that street life is the only way to go,” Outlaw said. “There’s an entire generation of children who believe the only way to settle a score is by bringing a gun into the equation. And what these kids don’t realize, unfortunately, is that some of the solutions they’re coming up with — they’re final. This is the end for them. There’s no going back.”
The shooting captured attention in part because of its brazen nature. It happened last Tuesday afternoon, a few minutes after a football scrimmage at Roxborough High.
Five shooters, who had been waiting in a parked SUV near the football field for several minutes, jumped out of the gray vehicle and fired more than 60 shots at a group of teens headed for the locker rooms, police said.
Nicolas Elizalde, 14, of Havertown, Delaware County, was fatally struck in the chest. Four other teens, who ranged in age from 14 to 17, were also struck, and police released surveillance video showing one of the assailants chasing a 17-year-old victim and firing until he ran out of bullets.
The shooters then jumped back in the SUV and drove away. Police have said they believe a sixth person may have been behind the wheel as a getaway driver. The car — which was stolen and had a paper Delaware tag as a license plate — was found in a Southwest Philadelphia parking lot the next day.
Smith said Tuesday that police had recently recovered a Chevrolet Impala that transported the shooters “back and forth” to that Explorer, but he declined to offer additional details about its role in the incident.
Law enforcement sources said some group members are believed to be linked to at least two other shootings in recent weeks. Smith said police were investigating potential connections to other acts of gun violence, but he declined to offer further specifics about the investigation.
Burney-Thorne, upon apprehension, is expected to be charged as an adult with counts including murder, attempted murder, and weapons offenses. A separate warrant was also approved for his arrest on charges including theft and obstruction of justice over his connection to the stolen Ford Explorer, police said.
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(Philadelphia Inquirer staff researcher Ryan W. Briggs contributed to this article.)
