Pennsylvania cops fired over girl’s shooting death at football game
A Pennsylvania town council voted to fire three police officers charged in the shooting death of an 8-year-old girl at a high school football game in August.
The Sharon Hill Borough Council voted 6-1 late Thursday to fire the officers — Devon Smith, Sean Dolan and Brian Devaney — charged in the Aug. 27 shooting that killed Fanta Bility and wounded eight others, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
Some who attended the packed meeting backed the cops, while others said they were outraged by the shooting outside Academy Park High School as fans were leaving a football game against Pennsbury High School.
“If they look at us and they just fire into a crowd, there’s a problem with that, especially if there’s no one firing at them,” borough resident Charles Pearson-Bey said. “We do have good police officers in our borough, but we have to be conscious of what they do in our borough.”
Another attendee, Tom Hendricks, said he knew two of the charged officers and claimed Fanta’s tragic death was a terrible accident.
“These officers didn’t come to work that day saying, ‘I’m gonna kill someone,’” Hendricks said at the meeting. “Their lives will be messed up forever.”
The three cops, who had been placed on administrative leave, appeared to have violated use-of-force procedures barring them from using deadly force when bystanders might be injured, the Inquirer reported. They’re also banned from firing at vehicles except in self-defense or to protect another person.
Smith, 34, and Devaney, 41, were veteran officers, while Dolan, 25, was a part-time cop who joined the force in July. None of them attended Thursday’s council meeting, according to the Inquirer.
The Delaware County District Attorney’s Office charged the trio Tuesday with voluntary and involuntary manslaughter and reckless endangerment in the shooting.
District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer said the cops were opposite the stadium’s exit as fans were leaving and a car turned onto a street in front of them as bullets rang out.
The cops then discharged their service weapons toward the football field, killing Fanta, of Sharon Hill, and wounding three others, Stollsteimer said in a statement Tuesday.
“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.
A preliminary hearing for the officers has been set for Jan. 27. A judge set their bail at $500,000, Stollsteimer said. Attorneys for the officers did not return messages seeking comment, CNN reported early Friday.
Investigators determined the shooting came after Angelo “AJ” Ford, 16, got into an argument with Hasein Strand, 19, that escalated into gunfire.
Strand, meanwhile, has pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and illegal possession of a firearm for wounding a child during the gunfire. He will serve up to 64 months in prison, Stollsteimer said.
Ford still faces charges of attempted murder, aggravated assault and gun possession, CNN reported.
Stollsteimer announced Tuesday that he withdrew murder charges against Strand and Ford for their role in Fanta’s death.
“While I believe these defendants should be held accountable for starting the series of events that ultimately led to Fanta Bility’s death, developments during the grand jury investigation render it appropriate to withdraw these charges at this time,” the district attorney said.
