The shooting occurred in the Byberry East Industrial Park. Police arrested a suspect on Devereaux Avenue in Lower Mayfair.
A Bucks County man fired a semi-automatic rifle near a Far Northeast industrial park before leading police on a wild chase through two counties on Aug. 9, Philadelphia police claim.
Police said they captured William Opper, 37, of Trevose, at his sister’s house on the 2900 block of Devereaux Ave. in Lower Mayfair. He is charged with numerous firearms offenses, fleeing police, reckless endangerment and possessing an instrument of crime. Police said that he also assaulted an officer.
At around 5 p.m., an officer from the 8th district went to the 13000 block of Townsend Road in the Byberry East Industrial Park to investigate a report of gunshots fired. When the officer arrived in the area, she heard a single gunshot and saw a man in an orange shirt and khaki shorts holding an AR-15 rifle in the air, police said.
The gunman then entered the driver’s side of a white utility truck and drove the truck in reverse toward the officer and her patrol vehicle, police said. The suspect shifted into drive and fled the scene.
According to Lt. Dennis Rosenbaum of Northeast Detectives, the suspect led police northbound on Roosevelt Boulevard into Bucks County and turned into the Neshaminy Interplex office campus. He then exited the campus onto Old Lincoln Highway before turning into a residential neighborhood and crashing into a ditch at a construction site near Somerton and Carter roads.
The suspect ran into nearby woods and escaped.
About 30 minutes later, police learned that the man got into a silver car and was traveling to his sister’s Lower Mayfair house. Officers from the 15th district arrested Opper when he arrived there. ••
