Reading shooting suspect captured in Lancaster County
Nov. 9—U.S. marshals apprehended a Lancaster man who Reading police sought on attempted murder charges in an Oct. 28 incident in which he fired a handgun into another vehicle, hitting the victim in the jaw.
Francisco Rivera, 41, was taken into custody Tuesday in Lancaster County, according to law enforcement officials.
Following arraignment before District Judge David L. Yoch in Reading Central Court, Rivera was sent to Berks County Prison without bail to await a hearing. Rivera is also charged with aggravated assault, reckless endangerment and weapons offenses.
Police gave this account of the shooting:
Police were called to Ninth and Spring streets for a report of a shooting victim. They found the victim suffering from a gunshot wound to the jaw. He was taken to Reading Hospital by an ambulance and admitted in critical condition.
The witness to the shooting said she and the victim were at residence in northeast Reading and left shortly after 6:20 a.m. to pick up someone. While the victim was driving, she noticed a sedan was following them. She recognized that the car belonged to her ex-boyfriend, Rivera, and warned the victim to drive around to see if the car followed them.
At a red light on North Sixth at Spring Street, Rivera's sedan pulled up to the victim's car. Rivera lowered the passenger side widow and shot the victim.
The victim drove off and eventually stopped at a restaurant at Ninth and Spring streets for help. The passenger suffered minor injuries from being struck by pieces of glass from the shattered driver's side window.
The medical condition of the shooting victim, whose name wasn't released, could not be obtained.
In their initial news release about the incident, police indicated the shooting was described as a road-rage incident, not as a domestic-related incident.
