Sources
Court hearing gives insight into Atlantic City 'shootout'
A detention hearing revealed new details about a Labor Day shooting on South Florida Avenue in Atlantic City that wounded two men and put a 2-year-old child at risk. Kevin Bryant, 24, of Philadelphia, was ordered held on charges including aggravated assault, weapons offenses, and endangering the welfare of a child after prosecutors said surveillance video and ballistics linked him to the exchange of gunfire.
A detention hearing Tuesday provided new details about a Labor Day shooting on the first block of South Florida Avenue in Atlantic City that wounded two men and endangered a toddler.
Kevin Bryant, 24, of Philadelphia, was ordered held in jail on charges including aggravated assault, weapons offenses and endangering the welfare of a child.
According to Chief Assistant Prosecutor Allison Eiselen, surveillance video showed a car pulling into the area of Bellevue Avenue behind Florida Avenue at about 10:48 p.m. A man wearing dark clothes and a mask got out. Prosecutors said two men were struck by gunfire. That alleged shooter has not been named or charged.
Eiselen said surveillance then showed one of the wounded men running with Bryant and Demetrius Scott. Both Scott and Bryant were seen raising their arms and pointing guns in the direction of the shooter, with muzzle flashes visible.
Scott also has been charged in the case but had not been arrested, according to court records.
Police found about 23 shell casings from a 9mm firearm spread across almost the entire block, along with a blood trail, Eiselen said. Several parked cars were hit. One of those vehicles had a woman inside and her 2-year-old child in the back seat, and the passenger side was struck near where the child was sitting.
The next day, Sgt. Darrin Lorady and Detectives Christopher Dodson and Eric Evans were conducting surveillance in the 400 and 500 blocks of North Connecticut Avenue when they saw Bryant walking. According to Evans' report, Bryant appeared to be concealing something in his waistband. When officers got out of their car, he ran, jumping fences through backyards near Adriatic Avenue.
Police later recovered a gun in the area, and Bryant was charged with possession. Prosecutors said ballistics later connected that gun to the South Florida Avenue shooting, leading to additional charges.
Defense attorney Durann Neil questioned how Bryant was identified, noting that he was not from the area and not known to local police. Eiselen responded that he was identified through surveillance footage and then linked by the firearm. She also said the gun was distinctive because it had several rubber bands around it, and that the same gun appeared in photos on Bryant's social media.
Bryant also was the subject of a federal detainer. Prosecutors said he was on parole after serving a 15-month federal prison sentence in a Philadelphia drug case and had been released in 2021.
Judge Joseph Levin ordered Bryant held at the Atlantic County Justice Facility.
No documents
No other sources