An Atlantic City man on parole for a weapons conviction is charged with three counts of attempted murder in a shooting at a Pleasantville High School football game Friday night.
A 10-year-old child remains in critical condition after what the prosecutor called "petty vengeance" resulted in others being injured.
Alvin Wyatt, 31, is charged with shooting the young boy along with 27-year-old Ibn Abdullah, who has been identified as the intended target, Atlantic County Prosecutor Damon Tyner said.
A 15-year-old was grazed in the attack, Tyner said.
Wyatt was apprehended at the scene by Pleasantville Police Office Jon-Marshall Robinson, Police Chief Sean Riggin said. Four others charged in connection with the shooting fled.
An Absecon police officer tried to stop them, but they kept going and one of the men threw a gun out the window as they entered Atlantic City, according to officials.
A witness alerted police, who recovered a gun. Multiple guns were also recovered at the shooting scene, including one on Abdullah, Pleasantville Capt. Matt Hartman said of the adult victim.
Abdullah, who remains hospitalized at AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center's City Campus, is now charged with unlawful possession of a weapon and possession of a weapon by a convicted felon.
He was previously connected to the Dirty Blok gang that was taken down in a federal raid in 2014.
The incident had nothing to do with either Pleasantville or Camden, both Tyner and Riggin stressed.
The venue simply presented an opportunity for criminals to pursue their own form of petty vengeance against one another.
"This problem came to us," Riggin said.
"As a result, an innocent child was caught and injured in their crossfire," said Tyner. "Our community will not be held hostage by a few idiots intent on jeopardizing our safety and the safety of our children."
Wyatt was arrested for shooting two people in 2014. He pleaded guilty to weapons offenses in 2018, and was paroled Nov. 14, 2018, court and Department of Corrections records show.
He is now charged with three counts of attempted murder, unlawful possession of a weapon and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose.
Michael Mack, 27; Tyrell Dorn, 28, and Shahid Dixon, all of Atlantic City, along with Vance Golden, 26, of Pleasantville, are charged with weapons offenses, including possession of a weapon by a convicted felon.
Dixon is also charged with eluding.
School officials were meeting Saturday to discuss what steps need to be taken in light of Friday night's shooting, Riggin said.
It will include what precautions might need to be taken for future games.
Now, the Pleasantville and Camden teams will resume their playoff game Wednesday, at a neutral location with no fans allowed. It will resume in the third quarter, where Pleasantville was down 6-0.
