EASTON, Pa. \u2014 A suspect is in custody following a shooting at a restaurant in South Bethlehem earlier this month, Northampton County authorities announced Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Ashton Jordan Thomas, 18, of Stewartsville, New Jersey, on Tuesday turned himself in to the Bethlehem Police Department \u2014 more than a week after a midnight shooting at a crowded Sizzling Bites Halal Grill at 312 E. Third St., authorities said.<\/p>\n
District Judge Jordan A. Knisley oversaw Thomas\u2019 arraignment the same day he surrendered to police. No bail was set.<\/p>\n
Thomas is being held at Northampton County Prison.<\/p>\n
Two victims, a male and an uninvolved female, were hospitalized following the shooting and are recovering in stable condition, according to county officials.<\/p>\n
The Northampton County District Attorney\u2019s Office on Wednesday held a new conference to announce the charges against Thomas, which include:<\/p>\n
Two counts of attempted criminal homicide.Two counts of aggravated assault.Two counts of aggravated assault \u201cfor causing or attempting to cause bodily injury.\u201dTwo counts of aggravated assault \u201cfor causing bodily injury with a deadly weapon.\u201dTwo counts of simple assault.Eight counts of recklessly endangering another person, possessing instruments of crime, and firearms not to be carried without a license.<\/p>\n
District Attorney Stephen Baratta said since the suspect wasn’t showing up in the local database, inquiries with other area authorities led to quick assistance from Warren County (N.J.) officials.<\/p>\n
A suspect was identified \u201cwithin a matter of hours,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
“From behind, a male stepped up, pulled out a gun and fired five shots. And within the restaurant there \u2014 it was relatively crowded \u2014 it exposed many people to possible danger or injury.\u201d<\/p>\n
Northampton County DA Stephen Baratta<\/p>\n
Baratta described the scene based on surveillance footage shared by the restaurant owner:<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was a physical confrontation between males within the restaurant. They move from the front door towards the counter, away from the front door.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou could see that there is a physical altercation; arms are being thrown.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd from behind, a male stepped up, pulled out a gun and fired five shots. And within the restaurant there \u2014 it was relatively crowded \u2014 it exposed many people to possible danger or injury.\u201d<\/p>\n
‘Spur-of-the-moment’<\/p>\n
Bethlehem police Detective Stephen Ewald, lead investigator in the case, described the \u201cspur-of-the-moment\u201d altercation as \u201ca disagreement that happened outside the restaurant that came inside.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said surveillance showed three other individuals involved in a physical altercation when the shooter fired five shots from behind.<\/p>\n
A brief look at the security footage shared with reporters on Wednesday showed the restaurant, packed with more than 30 patrons, appearing to clear out within seconds following the shooting.<\/p>\n
Thomas was never physically struck during the physical fighting, though an associate of his was, officials said.<\/p>\n
Responding police officers found two victims hit by gunfire and bleeding.<\/p>\n
Of the five shots reportedly fired, four hit the victims, two each, while the fifth lodged in the store counter\u2019s backsplash.<\/p>\n
Bethlehem Police Det. Stephen Ewald<\/p>\n
Of the five shots reportedly fired, four hit the victims, two each, while the fifth lodged in the store counter\u2019s backsplash.<\/p>\n
The victims reportedly were hit in the hand and backside, and the leg and foot, respectively.<\/p>\n
They were taken to St. Luke’s University Hospital in Fountain Hill.<\/p>\n
Baratta and Ewald touted the work of the Warren County Prosecutor\u2019s Office, Northampton County DA\u2019s Office, Phillipsburg Police Department and the Greenwich Township Police Department in the case.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re just in the beginning stages now, but we hope that this relationship with Warren County, New Jersey, will pay big dividends with regard to public safety,\u201d Baratta said of further collaboration and a memorandum of understanding to come for the two entities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"EASTON, Pa. \u2014 A suspect is in custody following a shooting at a restaurant in South Bethlehem earlier…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":139556,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[64006,153,155,154,1256,64007,4557,9323,6790,64008,58223,64009,64010],"class_list":["post-139555","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bethlehem","tag-ashton-jordan-thomas","tag-bethlehem","tag-bethlehem-headlines","tag-bethlehem-news","tag-bethlehem-police-department","tag-halal-grill-shooting","tag-northampton-county-da","tag-northampton-county-district-attorney","tag-shooting-in-bethlehem","tag-sizzling-bites-shooting","tag-stephen-baratta","tag-stephen-ewald","tag-stewartsville-shooter"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139555","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=139555"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139555\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/139556"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=139555"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=139555"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=139555"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}