Turf war shots hit kids’ bus

One man was arrested and two are being sought.

By LAURE CIOFFI

VINDICATOR PENNSYLVANIA BUREAU

NEW CASTLE, Pa. — A bus transporting mentally challenged pupils got caught in the crossfire of a turf war in one of the city’s public housing projects.

No one was injured, but the bus driver had to be taken to Jameson Memorial Hospital after suffering chest pains.

Police arrested one man and issued an arrest warrant for a second suspect. A third shooter had not been identified by police Tuesday afternoon.

Police Chief Tom Sansone said the shooting stemmed from an ongoing turf war between some New Castle natives and people from Mississippi.

Sansone said a group of people from Mississippi relocated to New Castle shortly after Hurricane Katrina, and then others followed sometime later. He said he was unsure which group — or if both — is involved in the turf war.

Two reports

According to police reports, initial shots were fired at 1:09 p.m. Monday at a vehicle on the 1500 block of South Jefferson Street. Both the driver and passenger told police they were from Mississippi and said the shooting was related to a turf war at the Lincoln Terrace public housing units.

Police were called again at 3:26 p.m. Monday to Lincoln Avenue for numerous shots fired.

When police arrived they found the driver of an Allied Coordinated Transportation Services bus shaken and crying. Police said her bus had a shattered window on the door and a bullet hole through the front windshield.

There were also three mentally challenged children and an aide on board when the shots were fired, police said.

The aide told police that three men were shooting at a black vehicle. The vehicle sideswiped a parked car and the moving ACTS bus. The aide claimed one of the men had cornrows and was holding a silver handgun.

Police later determined the driver of the black vehicle was in the vehicle shot at earlier on South Jefferson Street.

The man, who is originally from Mississippi but now lives in New Castle, told police he saw one man coming at him from the left with a handgun. That man started firing. Police were later able to identify the man through a photo lineup as Christopher Dorman, 32, of New Castle. A warrant for his arrest was issued Tuesday afternoon on charges of attempted criminal homicide and aggravated assault.

Traffic stop nabs suspect

The victim told police that David Carter, 35, of Beckford Street, New Castle, was also shooting. A third man, who could not be identified by the victim, was also shooting, police said.

Police later found Carter during a traffic stop on West Washington Street. They found 16 grams of crack in the vehicle, an additional 10 individual pieces of crack in his pocket, an OxyContin pill, two Ecstasy tablets, a revolver and ammunition. Police noted that Carter has cornrows and the revolver was silver, matching the description given by the aide on the bus.

Police said he refused to submit to a test for gunshot residue.

Carter is being held on $250,000 bail in the county jail after being arraigned on two counts of attempted murder, seven counts of aggravated assault, seven counts of recklessly endangering another person, carrying a firearm without a license, possession of a controlled substance with the intent to deliver and possession of a controlled substance.

cioffi@vindy.com