Trending
Homicide and other charges have been filed nearly seven years after a shooting in Lycoming County.
On Friday, Williamsport police charged Dawud M. Rogers, 42, with the Dec. 30, 2016 killing of William Michael Blackwell, 31, according to PennLive.com.
The 3 p.m. shooting in the 2000 block of Boyd Street was captured on video by a private surveillance camera.
According to the affidavit, the video showed a tall, thin black man get out of a car, approach Blackwell from behind, and fire several shots into him. The shooter started to return to the car, but turned around and fired several more shots at Blackwell on the ground.
No motive was given for the shooting.
Through interviews and eyewitness accounts, investigators said they identified the shooter as Rogers, who is currently an inmate at the Allenwood Penitentiary, serving a sentence on a federal heroin distribution charge, according to PennLive.
Several 9mm casings were found near where Blackwell was shot, investigators said.
Rogers was prohibited from possessing a firearm due to a 2010 drug possession conviction, investigators said.
Police have not disclosed a reason for the delay in the charges, or if the homicide is related to an October 2015 shooting near Park Avenue and Grier Street, for which Blackwell was charged, PennLive reported.
The victim in that case, Antwan M. McClain, was shot in the left shoulder after a car driven by Blackwell cut him off, police said. McClain identified Blackwell from a photo lineup, investigators said.
Blackwell was arrested in February 2016 in Philadelphia and returned to Williamsport to face charges of attempted homicide, aggravated assault, illegal possession of a firearm due to a drug conviction and possessing a firearm without a license.
Blackwell, formerly of Williamsport, was released in September 2016, after McClain refused to cooperate.
Along with homicide, Rogers is charged with aggravated assault, illegal possession of a firearm, carrying a firearm without a license and possession of an instrument of crime, PennLive reported.
He pleaded guilty in April 2018 to possession with intent to distribute heroin, and was sentenced to 10 years in prison followed by six years' supervised release.