Pocono News Section

Violent Weekend in Williamsport

Violent Weekend in Williamsport - Monday, April 21, 2008 at 5:25PM EST

Reported by: Jeremy Deebel
Monday, Apr 21, 2008 @ 05:25pm EST
WILLIAMSPORT, LYCOMING COUNTY- A violent weekend in Lycoming County as gunfire breaks out in two neighborhoods, sending one woman to the hospital. Now people in those neighborhoods are on edge, and demanding answers.

"Gang activity in this park has always been a problem...there's drug deals, sex in the park after dark, we've caught everything here. We try to break it up ourselves or call police. Usually the police just chase them away."

Those words from a longtime Newberry section resident who asked only to be identified as Bill, in regard to the latest incident at Newberry Park Friday evening, where a juvenile female fired one or more rounds from a handgun into the air. No one was hurt. We're told Williamsport schools were closed that day for parent/teacher conferences.

Williamsport Bureau of Police Captain Raymond Kontz said, "There was no school, so we're not concerned that she may have had this at any of our local schools. You know they're playing with the handgun and they don't always know how they operate or how they work."

Police say they continue to investigate, but have not yet identified the alleged shooter or found the weapon involved.

Residents here say they need a bigger police presence and more action to be taken to curb the problems. Bill explained, "I think we’ve got to bust them up. Issue citations instead of chasing them away, because problems with the youth, you know, it's pretty bad."

Then just a few hours later on Friday night, a woman was shot in the abdomen following an altercation at the Fifth Avenue Tavern. Police say a handful of bar patrons immediately detained the alleged shooter until they arrived. "Very courageous...not something we would recommend, especially with an armed suspect, but they acted quickly. No one else was hurt, probably because of their actions," Kontz added.

No word yet on what started that altercation. The alleged shooter, Daqwan Alford, of Williamsport, is currently locked up at the Lycoming County Prison. He faces multiple counts of simple and aggravated assault, among other charges. Alford has a felony drug conviction on his record from New Jersey.

The victim of Friday night's shooting, Charlotte Pratt, is in stable condition following surgery.