A suspect who allegedly killed his father earlier this month and was later captured in Cambridge, Mass., was formally charged with murder on Tuesday, Aug. 20.
Police say Sohan Panjrolia, 31, of Bustleton, fatally shot his 64-year-old father, Mahendra B. Panjrolia, with an assault rifle on Aug. 3 inside the family’s home on the 1900 block of Conwell Avenue.
Authorities have said that Panjrolia has schizophrenia.
Panjrolia was arrested Aug. 6 near Harvard University, where he was once a student. The manhunt, which involved multiple law enforcement agencies, reportedly caused a brief lockdown in the Harvard Square area, a bustling section of Cambridge.
After being extradited to Philadelphia, Panjrolia was charged with murder, attempted murder and weapons violations. He is being held without bail at Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility on State Road.
In 2018, Panjrolia was arrested in Bucks County for allegedly using false identification to try to purchase a gun, according to court records.
That case was transferred to Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition court, a diversionary program that waives mandatory sentences for first-time nonviolent offenders. Participants in the ARD program are not required to plead guilty.
Panjrolia was required to undergo a mental health evaluation as part of his ARD conditions. In addition, he was not supposed to possess a gun or attempt to buy one.
It’s unclear who owned the gun used in the Conwell Avenue shooting.
A preliminary hearing in Panjroilia’s murder case is scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 4. ••
