WHO IS HE?
$5,000 REWARD OFFERED FOR INFO ON SUSPECT IN HAVERFORD SLAYING
Officials are offering a $5,000 reward for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the suspect wanted in the shooting death of John Le, 29, of Narberth, who was shot and killed outside this Haverford apartment on the 2300 block of Haverford Road on Saturday night.
HAVERFORD » As township and county detectives Monday continued to chase every lead in hopes of tracking the gunman in what District Attorney Jack Whelan called “the assassination” of a Narberth man over the weekend, a $5,000 reward has been posted for information leading to an arrest and a conviction in the seemingly random case.
“There are a lot of tips coming in,” Haverford Police Chief John Viola said in reference to images of a suspect in the fatal shooting of John Le in the township’s Ardmore section on Saturday. The suspect is also linked to firing as many as 17 shots at two individuals in Philadelphia, about 45 minutes prior to the fatal shooting in Haverford.
Le, 29, of Narberth, was gunned down in the 2300 block of Haverford Road on Saturday about 6:10 p.m. Authorities have not been able to establish any motive in the death — which brings the homicide toll in Delaware County to 22 this year, and is the first for Haverford in 12 years.
Authorities said Le was walking from a pizza shop to a friend’s residence when the shots rang out. Le’s friend, who lives in a second-floor apartment about 75 yards from Original Eagle Pizza, told police he heard two gunshots.
“He saw his friend laying on the front step,” Viola said. Le, whose friend was tending to him when police arrived, was transported to the hospital where he was pronounced deceased.
Images of the suspect were caught on video as he was running away from the crime, heading north on Haverford Road. The suspect is a black man last seen wearing a red hoodie, white T-shirt and blue jeans.
According to Whelan, the gunman had already walked past the pizza shop before Le had exited.
“He seemed to double back and follow him,” the district attorney said. “We have no motive, no reason why this young man was gunned down and assassinated.”
Whelan said random killings, as Le’s death appears, present certain investigation challenges.
“It becomes a danger for every resident when you have a random killer on the street,” he said. “Haverford police and (the Delaware County Criminal Investigation Division) are working very hard … We’re trying to remain optimistic we will get this very dangerous guy off the street.”
Authorities are hopeful that the reward offered through his office serves as an incentive for anyone with information to come forward, Whelan said.
Nick Millas, owner of Original Eagle Pizza, said Monday night that detectives came into the shop and provided a flyer announcing the reward.
“I hope they find him,” he said of the gunman.
Millas wasn’t in the shop when the shooting occurred. His son notified him with the shocking news that a customer had been shot and killed outside the shop, he said.
Whelan described the fatal shooting as highly unusual for Haverford, which hasn’t recorded a homicide since August 2005.
As information about the shooting and suspect spread, Viola said township police were contacted by a man in Philadelphia who said the suspect appeared similar to a person who fired shots at him and his neighbor on 77th Street, in the Overbrook section of Philadelphia, about 45 minutes before the fatal incident.
“The victim in Philadelphia called our detectives directly,” Viola said.
The Philadelphia man said his neighbor caught a man looking into the windows of his residence. The neighbors then searched the area and when they confronted a man who matched the description of the peeper, he opened fire. The neighbors were not injured.
According to Whelan, investigators are working with Philadelphia authorities. While the suspect in the fatal shooting matches the description of the man in the Philadelphia incident, Whelan said ballistics from ammunition casings recovered from scenes in Philadelphia and Haverford are pending.
Anyone with information pertinent to the fatal shooting is asked to contact Haverford police at 610-8539213 or the Citizens Crimes Commission at 215-546-TIPS.