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Roxborough HS shooting: Man charged with murder in shooting that left teen dead, 4 others hurt

Man charged with murder in Roxborough HS shooting
Man charged with murder in Roxborough HS shooting 03:11

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- One of the two men who jumped from a car and shot five teens outside Roxborough High School after a football scrimmage has been arrested. The Philadelphia District Attorney's Office says 21-year-old Yaaseen Bivins has been charged with murder, four counts of aggravated assault and related offenses.

Philadelphia police sources say they expect to have a third arrest warrant and a fourth is not far behind.

The shooting took the life of 14-year-old Nicolas Elizalde and injured four other high school students.

At a news conference Wednesday afternoon, top brass of the Philadelphia Police Department announced rapid developments in the continuing search for the gunmen who opened fire outside Roxborough High School last month.

Charges of murder and aggravated assault were approved by the District Attorney's Office on Tuesday against Bivins.

Bivins was taken into custody by federal agents last week on a firearms charge.

"We believe he was a participant in the murder," Deputy Commissioner Frank Vanore said. "He is one of the six you see jump out of the truck. He was charged with the same charges is [Dayrun] Burney Thorne, murder, four counts of aggravate assault and related offenses in that case.

Dayrun Burney Thorn was identified last week. The 16-year-old whom sources say was the alleged getaway driver has still not been taken into custody.

Investigators say evidence recovered from the SUV, used to flee the area where Elizalde was killed and four other teens were wounded, ties Burney Thorn and Bivins to the crime.

"We found a receipt, that receipt left us two ammunition that was purchased by this individual," Vanore said. "Because of his status as being a felon, we were able to use our federal partners and arrest him for being in eligible to purchase ammunition."

A motive has not been revealed.

Suspect charged with murder in deadly Roxborough HS shooting 02:10

Bivins has been in custody since last Thursday, according to police.

Court records show Bivins was on house arrest at the time of the Roxborough shooting following his conviction on charges of aggravated assault by vehicle after police say he was responsible for the death of an unborn child following a drag racing incident in July of 2020.

Mayor Jim Kenney, at a news conference, again pointed to city streets awash with guns.

"All of these circumstances have one thing in common," Kenney said, "illegal guns should not be in their hands. These young kids are getting killed left and right, would have been a fistfight at a playground over a hard foul in a basketball game, that's the insanity of this state."

The city is offering a $45,000 reward for information that leads to an arrest and conviction. 

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