1. ‘Police report gang violence resulting in shooting’
2. ‘Authorities investigate shooting linked to gang war’.
Accident – Death – Obituary News : Five teenagers are facing charges as adults in a shooting incident that occurred on New Year’s Day. According to court documents, these teenagers are believed to be involved in a small “gang war” between two distinct groups. The investigation into the shooting on the 700 block of Fourth Street involved interviews with witnesses and juveniles found at the scene, collection of video surveillance footage, seizure of cellphones and a gun, and obtaining warrants for social media accounts to identify those involved in the dispute. The Altoona Area School District police also provided information about the ongoing gang war.
Four of the teenagers, namely Domenico Pezzuti, Eli Rodgers, Imeen Whitaker, and Ezekiel Williams, were arraigned on Thursday, while the fifth teenager, Hezikiah Nathaniel Stehley, was arraigned on Friday. All of them, who are 16 years old, will have preliminary hearings on February 14 before Magisterial District Judge Daniel C. DeAntonio. Each teenager is facing a variety of charges.
Stehley, who was unable to post $150,000 bail, was remanded to the Blair County Prison. Pezzuti, on the other hand, was remanded to the prison initially, but his bail was posted on Friday, allowing his release. Rodgers was released on unsecured $50,000 bail, and Whitaker was released on $100,000 unsecured bail. Williams, unable to post $150,000 bail, was also remanded to the prison.
Court documents revealed new information about the incident and the subsequent investigation, indicating that the teenagers were engaged in a long-standing dispute. The police responded to a shots fired report around 3:13 a.m. on January 1 in the area of Fourth Street and Seventh Avenue. A witness reported that multiple gunshots were fired, and several individuals were seen fleeing towards the Salvation Army.
Law enforcement officers found an obvious bullet hole in a first-floor window of a home on the 700 block of Fourth Street. Two Farberware kitchen knives were also discovered, with one containing a blood smear. According to the witness, a group of seven or eight males were hanging out in the alley behind the Cantina when another male approached from Seventh Avenue and began firing what appeared to be a BB gun or pellet gun towards the group. Shortly after, the witness heard two other small caliber guns being fired multiple times.
The witness immediately ran back into his home and called 911. The males ran east in the alley, and they were described as young in age, tall, and wearing dark clothing and face masks. The police located multiple juveniles wearing dark clothing in the area, and while Whitaker was stopped at Kettle Street and East Walton Avenue, the others fled north. Whitaker was found carrying a backpack, and a second juvenile, Williams, was eventually found hiding under a vehicle in the alley.
Both Whitaker and Williams were taken into custody on curfew violations. During a search of Williams, law enforcement officers discovered a small amount of marijuana and nearly three dozen .22-caliber bullets. Police secured the area of the shooting and entered the home that was struck by the bullet in an attempt to recover the projectile. The homeowner initially thought the gunshots were fireworks due to the holiday.
Further investigation led the police to find two spent 9mm shell casings on the 300 block of Seventh Avenue Alley, along with a bullet that hit a dumpster. Surveillance footage confirmed that a single male at the corner of the alley fired multiple shots into the alley before fleeing into the home that was searched for the bullet. The police later found a CO2 pellet gun in a trash can in the residence.
Whitaker was the only one who agreed to talk with the police. He explained that on December 31, he was with Stehley and Pezzuti, and they were playing video games before going to Whitaker’s house to pick up a different game. Along the way, they encountered three males they did not know, and they all went to the area of the Cantina. Whitaker admitted that there was a disturbance involving the other juveniles he was with, but he was unaware of the reason for their dispute. He mentioned that another male appeared and started shooting at them. Whitaker immediately started running, and some of the other juveniles he was with pulled out guns and started shooting as well.
The police seized Whitaker’s and Williams’ cellphones. Whitaker cooperated and provided the passcode, while Williams refused to do so. Additional camera footage of the shooting area positively identified Whitaker, Pezzuti, and Stehley due to their clothing. On the following day, the police found a live round for a .32 automatic and a spent shell casing at the scene. They also observed several bullet holes in the previously searched home, as well as evidence of rounds hitting a garage and a large storage building.
The police discovered graffiti all over the storage building in the alley, which included names and suspected gang identifiers such as “OTF” (Only the Family) and “GDK” (Gangster Disciple Killers). Next to these markings were a list of names, with many of them directly involved in the New Year’s Day shooting. Additionally, there were letters like “LLW,” “LLB,” “LLD,” and “LLV,” which were found to stand for “Long Live Wesley Pierce,” “Long Live Brent,” “Long Live Devon Pfirsching,” and “Long Live Virgil.” These names were associated with individuals who had either been killed or died of drug-related overdoses.
The police also worked with the Altoona Area School District police to gather more information on the juveniles involved. They discovered that a fight had occurred on December 5 between Rodgers, Williams, and another unnamed juvenile. Video footage showed Rodgers and the unnamed juvenile repeatedly assaulting Williams in the hallways. As a result of this ongoing conflict, all three of them were expelled from the school district and enrolled in a cyber school program.
The Altoona Area School District police indicated that there is a small “gang war” happening between these two distinct groups based on their knowledge of the students. The police were able to obtain Snapchat and Instagram usernames for some of the involved juveniles, as they have been known to boast about possessing firearms on these social media platforms.
The lengthy affidavit of probable cause in the case contains 12 pages of information about the investigation. It revealed that some of the juveniles involved had created rap songs that contained references to guns, gangs, shooting, alcohol, and marijuana. Many of these rap lyrics and messages included racial slurs. Additionally, the social media posts of these individuals often featured photographs of guns and gang signs.
During the investigation, an unnamed juvenile informed the police that Pezzuti and Rodgers have always had a dispute, with Pezzuti being previously attacked by Rodgers. The conclusion drawn by the police is that the defendants are being charged as adults due to the severity of their crimes committed on January 1. The evidence suggests that this was a planned act of violence with the intent to seriously injure.
1. Gang war shooting
2. Police investigate gang war shooting.
