LANCASTER, Pa. — Editor's note: The above video is from Oct. 22, 2021.
A man accused of firing a gun several times during a fight in a Lancaster mall has pleaded guilty to 60 charges, the Lancaster County District Attorney's Office announced this morning.
Jeremiahs Josiah-Alberto Sanchez, 18, shot his gun at least twice while fighting with Elijah Deliz and Sergio Vargas inside the Park City Center.
According to authorities, Sanchez was walking inside the Park City mall on the afternoon of Sunday, Oct. 17, 2021, with a loaded gun that was subsequently reported stolen. Sanchez is a person not to possess a firearm due to previous incidents.
The DA's Office says Deliz, then 18, and Vargas, then 30, approached Sanchez inside the mall. A physical fight between the three men ensued, and Sanchez fired one shot that struck Deliz in the leg and another that struck a 30-year-old uninvolved bystander in the arm. The bystander was with her 5-year-old child.
Vargas then pulled Sanchez to the ground, and another shot was fired that struck Vargas in the hand. The DA's Office says a different bystander who legally possessed a gun shot at Sanchez three times in defense of himself and others, told Sanchez to stop moving and took Sanchez's gun from him.
A mass exodus from the mall following the shooting caused an elderly woman to fall and be trampled, resulting in a broken elbow, aspired lung and her to now live at a personal care facility. Officials say 52 people, including men, women and small children, were in the area during the shooting.
Sanchez was 16 at the time of the incident but charged as an adult. He pleaded no contest to two counts of aggravated assault and guilty to two counts of aggravated assault, receiving stolen property, carrying a firearm without a license, illegal possession of a firearm, possession of a firearm by a minor and 52 counts of recklessly endangering another person.
He will be sentenced later, after a pre-sentence investigation is completed, the DA's office said. Sanchez must also pay $24,536.73 in restitution.