Two young men have been arrested and charged in connection with last week’s mass shooting in Burholme that left eight Northeast High School students injured, authorities said Monday.
Jamaal Tucker and Ahnile Buggs, both 18, were apprehended after police served warrants over the weekend, police said.
Investigators are still looking for two other suspects, as they believe three gunmen and a driver participated in the March 6 shooting at the “Five Points” intersection of Cottman, Rising Sun and Oxford avenues.
Officials, during an afternoon press conference, did not publicly disclose a motive in the attack, and they would not definitively say whether the incident was connected to a similar shooting two days prior in the Ogontz neighborhood that killed 17-year-old Imhotep Institute Charter School student Dayemen Taylor and wounded four other people.
“We are not ready to commit to that,” Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel told reporters. “We believe there may be, but we still have a lot of work to do to make that full connection.”
Tucker, who lives in East Mount Airy, turned himself in Friday after officers conducted a raid looking for him, Deputy Police Commissioner Frank Vanore said.
Officers arrested Buggs, of Logan, on Saturday while searching another property, where they also found a .40 caliber Glock handgun equipped with an extended magazine, laser sights and a switch to make it an automatic weapon, according to Vanore.
A preliminary investigation connected the firearm to cartridge casings recovered from the Five Points scene, he added.
Local leaders from the FBI, U.S. Marshals Services and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives spoke at Monday’s announcement and have aided the investigation, officials said.
“We will focus on prevention, intervention and enforcement,” said Mayor Cherelle Parker, who took office in January and promised to present her public safety strategies in the coming weeks “in an effort to bring lawfulness and some order back to our city.”
She urged an end to the finger-pointing that has caused friction between the police department, reform-minded District Attorney Larry Krasner and other agencies in recent years.
The shooting Wednesday came as students at nearby Northeast High School were waiting to board the bus home.
Three shooters hopped out of a Hyundai Sonata at around 3 p.m. Wednesday, March 6, and fired more than 30 times at a group of teenagers waiting to board a SEPTA bus after being dismissed from school. Seven boys and one girl ranging in age from 15 to 17 were struck by the gunfire, according to authorities.
One of the victims, a 16-year-old boy, suffered nine gunshot wounds and was initially hospitalized in critical condition, police said. Vanore said Monday that the teen’s condition has been “upgraded” and that he is awake and talking.
In the aftermath of the shooting, Northeast, the city’s largest public school, switched to virtual instruction, and, this week, students have been brought back in-person in phases, with counselors available, school officials have said.
Tucker, who turned 18 last month, is being held at a prison in Bucks County, while Buggs is currently locked up in Delaware County, according to court records. Bail for both men was set at 10% of $2 million.
Associated Press contributed to this report.
