Palmyra woman, 25, charged with role in drive-by shooting of Mechanicsburg home

A 25-year-old Palmyra woman has been charged with an alleged drive-by shooting in Mechanicsburg in January, according to the Upper Allen Township Police Department.

Tyra Edwards has been charged with endangering the welfare of children, recklessly endangering another person, discharge of a firearm into an occupied structure and terroristic threats.

AT 2:15 a.m. Jan. 14, police responded to a shots fired call in the 1700 block of North Meadow Circle. They had discovered that the residence had been shot multiple times from a moving vehicle.

"The residence was occupied by several individuals, including children, at the time of the shooting," Upper Allen Township Police said in a news release.

According to police, Edwards was repeatedly threatening her ex-boyfriend, who lived at the North Meadow Circle residence, and his new girlfriend. The ex-boyfriend was not at the residence at the time of the shooting.

Two toddlers were at the home during the time of the shooting, one of whom was Edwards' 2-year-old daughter. The ex-boyfriend, who was the father of the 2-year-old, was granted sole custody.

No one inside the residence was struck by the gunfire.

A total of nine 9mm shell casings were found in front of the house. Police located several impact points in front of the residence and three bullets, according to court documents.

Witnesses reported they saw a vehicle with blueish headlights speeding down the street after several gunshots came from the vehicle.

Police obtained video surveillance from the residence, which showed that a small dark vehicle drove by at 3:03 a.m. that day, with two gunshots fired from the passenger side. Other nearby surveillance footage showed the vehicle approach a second time where several more gunshots could be heard.

On Jan. 1, Edwards texted the new girlfriend threatening to put a gun to her head, along with Edwards' ex-boyfriend and family members. Messages also included "let's fight" and "(expletive) I'll kill you."

Around 1 a.m. on the day of the shooting, Edwards and two others confronted the ex-boyfriend and his girlfriend at a Harrisburg bar. Court documents said a verbal dispute took place, where one of Edwards' friends asked the couple "Do you want to get shot?"

Cell phone video of the encounter also shows Edwards approaching the girlfriend's sister and saying "die tonight watch this."

At 6:43 p.m. after the North Meadow Circle residence was shot at, Edwards called her ex-boyfriend asking about "her daughter" and "why is there a picture of your house on the news?"

A few hours later the ex-boyfriend's mother received a call from an unknown male making threats, including "I'll shoot your house again." According to court documents, the call came from a blocked number that police said was registered to Edwards' mother.

Cell phone records obtained for Edwards and one of her friends from the Harrisburg bar incident, showed they had enough time to get to the North Meadow Circle residence at the time the shooting was reported. A day after the shooting, the phones traveled two and a half hours away to Johnstown.

"The fact that both phones left the Harrisburg area on the day after the shooting was likely an indication of flight to avoid apprehension for being involved in the shooting," police said in court documents.

Police confirmed at Edwards' current boyfriend owned two 9 mm handguns, which was the same caliber casings found at the scene of the shooting. He then later admitted to police that Edwards sent a text message saying his gun was used in "two shootouts."

Police seized Edwards' vehicle on Jan. 25, and it tested positive for gunshot residue on the passenger side of the vehicle. On April 1, Edwards was taken into custody in Dauphin County.

Edwards is being held at the Cumberland County Prison, unable to make bail set at $15,000 as of Wednesday afternoon. A preliminary hearing is scheduled before Cumberland County Magisterial Judge Mark Martin at 9:30 a.m. April 11.

Matthew Toth is a reporter for the Lebanon Daily News. Reach him at mtoth@ldnews.com or on X at @DAMattToth.

This article originally appeared on Lebanon Daily News: Palmyra PA woman, 25, charged with role in drive-by shooting