October 13, 2022
Jon Tuleya/PhillyVoice
A second suspect has been arrested in the Roxborough High School shooting that killed Nicholas Elizalde and injured four other teenagers after a football scrimmage on Sept. 27. Above, an anti-violence flyer is stapled to a telephone pole on Pechin Street, where the shooting occurred.
A second suspect has been arrested in connection with the Roxborough High School shooting that killed 14-year-old Nicolas Elizalde and injured four other teenagers on Sept. 27.
Police took 17-year-old Zyhied Jones into custody Thursday morning, Deputy Commissioner Frank Vanore tweeted. Investigators say six people – five shooters and a getaway driver – were involved in the shooting. Four of them remain at large.
@phillypolice just took a second suspect wanted in connection to the Roxborough High shooting into custody. Details to follow.
— Frank Vanore (@PPDFrankVanore) October 13, 2022
Jones is charged with murder, aggravated assault, conspiracy and related offenses.
The arrest comes one day after police said they had charged another suspect, Yaaseen Bivins, 21, with murder. They also have issued an arrest warrant for Dayron Burney-Thorne, 16, who is wanted for murder and remains at large.
Bivins was arrested by federal officials after investigators found a receipt for an ammunition purchase in the vehicle believed to have been used in the shooting. As a convicted felon, Bivins cannot legally purchase bullets. He also was charged with four counts of aggravated assault.
Police have not yet detailed the specific actions allegedly taken by Bivins and Burney-Thorne.
Investigators say five shooters sprayed more than 60 bullets at a group of football players that was leaving the school's stadium after a scrimmage. The sixth suspect remained in a stolen Ford Explorer during the shooting as the getaway driver.
Four of the five shooters returned to the SUV after the shooting, which sped off and was found in a Southwest Philly parking lot later that evening. The fifth shooter continued pursuing a 17-year-old boy who is believed to have been the target of the shooting and then fled on foot, police said.
Elizalde, who suffered a fatal gunshot wound to his chest, was not the intended target of the shooting, police said. The other four teenagers struck in the shooting suffered non-life-threatening injuries. Three of them were on the Roxborough football team. The fourth, the 17-year-old believed to have been targeted, is not a Roxborough High student, investigators said.
Elizalde was a freshman at Walter B. Saul High School, the city's agricultural high school. He played on the Roxborough junior varsity football team because his school does not have one. He previously had attended school in Havertown, Delaware County, where he was still living.
Police are asking anyone with information to call 911 or send a tip by calling or texting (215) 686-8477. Tips also can be left anonymously.
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