October 17, 2022
Jon Tuleya/PhillyVoice
Troy Fletcher, 15, was arrested Monday in connection with the fatal shooting on Sept. 27, 2022, outside Roxborough High School. Fletcher was the fourth person police identified as a suspect in the shootings that killed Nicolas Elizalde, 14, and injured four other teens. He surrendered to homicide detectives on Monday and is expected to be charged with murder.
Troy Fletcher, the fourth person police have identified in connection with last month's fatal shooting outside Roxborough High School is now in custody, authorities said Monday.
The 15-year-old surrendered to homicide detectives, Deputy Commissioner Frank Vanore tweeted on Monday. He is the third suspect to be arrested for the Sept. 27 shootings that killed 14-year-old Nicolas Elizalde and injured four other teens after a scrimmage at the Roxborough's football field.
Fletcher is expected to be charged with murder and related offenses.
@phillypolice just took a four suspect wanted in connection to the Roxborough High shooting/Homicide into custody. Troy Fletcher just surrendered to Homicide Detectives. Details to follow.
— Frank Vanore (@PPDFrankVanore) October 17, 2022
Police had obtained an arrest warrant on Thursday for Fletcher. So far in the investigation, authorities have arrested Yaaseen Bivens, 21, and Zyhied Jones, 17. Another arrest warrant is still out for 16-year-old Dayron Burney-Thorne, who was the first person police named as a suspect. Burney-Thorne is described as 6 feet 3 inches tall and weighing 215 pounds. He is considered armed and dangerous, police said.
Police have not detailed the roles the two teens and one adult had in the shooting, but they have said all will be charged with murder, aggravated assault, reckless endangerment and weapons offenses.
Six people – five shooters and a getaway driver – were involved in the ambush shooting behind the Roxborough High School, where football players had been walking back to the school following an afternoon scrimmage.
The five shooters fired more than 60 bullets at a group of Roxborough football players who were walking along the 4700 block of Pechin Street on the way to their locker room, police said. The sixth suspect remained at the wheel of a stolen Ford Explorer during the shooting. The vehicle had been parked for nearly six minutes before the shooting, leading investigators to believe the attack had been planned in advance, police said.
After the shooting, four of five shooters returned to the vehicle which sped off and was found later in a Southwest Philly parking lot. The fifth shooter continued pursuing a 17-year-old who police believe was the intended target, before fleeing on foot after his gun ran out of bullets.
Elizalde, was not the intended target of the attack, police said. He was a freshman at the city's agricultural high school, Walter B. Saul High School, also in Roxborough. Saul does not have a football team, and Elizalde played on the Roxborough junior varsity football team. He suffered a fatal gunshot wound to the chest.
The other four teenagers struck by gunfire suffered non-life-threatening injuries. Three of them were on the Roxborough football team. Investigators say the fourth, the 17-year-old believed to be the targeted, is not a Roxborough High School student.
Surveillance images that police say show three suspects have been released. Investigator have not said whether any of the suspects in those photos are among the people who have been arrested. Police also have not discussed the motive for the attack.
Anyone with information about shootings can call 911 or send an anonymous tip by calling or texting (215) 686-8477 or by providing information via the police department's website.
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