Police arrested two men accused of gunning down a Chester man and later fleeing from a pursuing officer who had survived a shooting two years prior.
Byron Minor, 28, and Eric Johnson, 28, both of Chester, are each charged with murder, criminal homicide, criminal conspiracy and other related offenses.
Both men are accused of killing Vincent Franklin, 36, of Chester. On May 21, Minor borrowed a Nissan Rogue from a friend who had rented the vehicle.
Minor and Johnson, who police say are close friends, then drove to the 500 block of Central Avenue in Chester shortly before 4:25 p.m. that day, according to investigators.
Once they arrived, Johnson jumped out of the vehicle and immediately fired at Franklin after spotting him in the area, police said. Surveillance video captured the shooting.
Police say Johnson fired at least 22 shots and struck Franklin several times. He then went back into the passenger side of the Nissan Rogue and Minor drove away, police said.
Franklin was taken to the Crozer Chester Medical Center where he was pronounced dead a little more than an hour later.
About an hour after the shooting, police pulled over the suspects’ vehicle on the 1100 block of Taylor Drive in Folcroft. Minor and Johnson then allegedly fled the scene on foot while Folcroft Officer Chris Dorman pursued.
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Police say either Minor or Johnson aimed a weapon at Officer Dorman who fired two shots. Neither Minor nor Johnson were struck however and they escaped by breaking through a wooden fence and running away, investigators said. Neither Dorman nor any other police officers were hurt in the incident.
Police used surveillance video of the shooting as well as video of the suspects driving onto 322 West to identify Minor and Johnson as the suspects, investigators said. They arrested the two Tuesday after getting testimony from witnesses, reviewing cell phone records and analyzing the surveillance footage, police said.
The incident was the second shooting in the past two years that Officer Dorman was involved in. In 2016, Dorman was shot in the face, leg and groin as he approached people suspected of smoking marijuana behind an apartment building in Folcroft.
