Officials announced an arrest in a deadly mass shooting at a pop-up party in Fairmount Park in June that was later linked to another deadly mass shooting at another pop-up party in Southwest Philadelphia on July 4th.
Zayaan Carroll, 17, was arrested on Wednesday, Nov. 13, by US Marshals, officials announced Thursday. Police said Carroll was involved in the shooting death of 17-year-old Isya Stanley over the summer.
Deadly mass shootings connected
Deadly shooting on June 14
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Investigators said Carroll was at a pop-up party with around 200 other teens and young adults along the 2400 block of Greenland Drive at Philadelphia’s Fairmount Park shortly before 11 p.m. on Friday, June 14, 2024. Police had responded to the party to disperse the crowd and enforce curfew regulations. Carroll and an unidentified suspect then engaged in a gun battle, pulling out their weapons and firing at each other, investigators said.
Five teenagers, including 17-year-old Isya Stanley, were all struck by the gunfire. Stanley, who had been shot in the chest and shoulder, was later pronounced dead. The four other victims – an 18-year-old girl, 14-year-old boy and two 15-year-old boys – all suffered non-life-threatening injuries. All of the victims were innocent bystanders, investigators said.
After combing through evidence and social media postings, investigators identified Carroll as one of the suspects in the shooting.
Stanley’s family told NBC10 she had just graduated from high school and was looking forward to attending college.
“I’m heartbroken. That’s my only daughter,” her father, Isef Stanley, told NBC10. “My daughter was very good and she had a very, very bright future.”
The teen’s death also occurred only two days before Father’s Day.
“I gotta celebrate Father’s Day without my daughter. It’s a really hurtful situation," Isef Stanley said.
Deadly shooting on July 4th
Investigators said the shooting on June 14 was connected to another mass shooting that occurred on the Fourth of July a few weeks later. A gunman fired out of the passenger side of a passing white Toyota Highlander, shooting eight people who were attending a pop-up party along the 1900 block of South Salford Street around 11:30 p.m.
A patrol officer found one of the victims – 19-year-old Maurice Quann -- on the ground and then called for backup, investigators said. Police officers then found more people hurt at the scene and several more would arrive at the hospital.
Quann later died from his injuries at the hospital.
The other victims – who were between the ages of 14 and 24 – survived their injuries. Only two of the shooting victims were from the neighborhood, Philadelphia Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel said at the time, while noting the shooting appeared to have targeted young people at the party which had been promoted on social media.
Investigators said police had broken up large gatherings in the area earlier that night as they were tracking pop-up events across the city.
During Thursday’s press conference, Deputy Commissioner Frank Vanore said the deadly June shooting was connected to the July shooting.
“The social media matched up so we know that there’s a connection,” Vanore said.
While the victims in the June shooting were innocent bystanders, Vanore said the victims of the July shooting were targeted. No arrests have been made in the July 4th shooting. Investigators described the gunman as a man with dreadlocked hair but didn’t provide a detailed description beyond that. Police also recovered the Toyota Highlander in Lansdowne.
If you have any information on the other suspect in the June shooting or the suspect in the July shooting, please call Philadelphia Police.
