Police officers shot and killed an 8-year-old girl, and lied to the public about it for a month. Which begs the question, what if any punishment should police face about lying to the press?

8-year-old Fanta Bility, shot and killed by police following a shooting at a football game.

Trust and Concealment

There is an unspoken truth in the United States: social pressure leads to evidence and charges. I’m aware of this, you’re aware of this, the corporate press is aware of this, and most certainly the police are aware of it. When a story goes high profile, witnesses come forward. Outrage and demands threaten political careers, cause a drop in donations and grants, and social capital. A quiet reality of the justice system, if no one cares, the likelihood of injustice increases.

There isn’t much one can do about this sad reality. Anarchists point out often that the law is tilted against the poor and the faceless, but it is not realistic to legislate that all stories be given the same attention. One cannot manufacture investigations, drag protesters out by force, or require news organizations and influencers to cover stories.

However, what should we do as a society when this phenomenon is weaponized in the inverse? How should we handle political institutions deliberately lying to release pressure until investigations complete, or the public moves on to the next big thing? Should there be consequences if the police lie or withhold information from the public to protect their image? The Fanta Bility case pulls these questions into the forefront.

Gate football spectators fled when gunfire broke out at Academy Park High School.

Manufacturing the Lead

Let us start on the evening of August 27th, in a small suburb of Philly called Sharon Hill. By all reports a busy night at Academy Park High School. A local football game was in its final moments. Crowds were beginning to clear out and three local Sharon Hill police officers stood outside the main gate facing Coates Street keeping watch. The announcer is heard over the local radio station reporting the final score of the game when, suddenly, gunfire can be heard in the distance.

Panic ensued and people began to scatter out of the main gate into the street. Officers standing across the street report being fired upon. Police face southwest down Coates towards the sound of gunfire when a van pulls suddenly onto the street. An unknown number of officers open fire on the vehicle, bringing it to a stop. Somewhere up ahead, 8-year-old Fanta Bility lay dead, and four others were injured.

Satellite images of the location of the shooting. All reports claim gun fire came from the 900 block of Coates St. Police gunfire was reported around the exit of the stadium.

Information Whiplash

The first official report came from 6ABC News the following morning, with a further report later that night. In it, reporter Katie Katro states that police responded to unknown gunfire from outside of the stadium. Sharon Hill PD claims Bility and 4 others were shot in a drive-by shooting, with police returning fire upon the vehicle.

Several suspects were allegedly in custody by morning, and police claimed that night that weapons had been seized from the vehicle. The report includes released audio of a local radio broadcast that includes the gunfire. 6ABC promises a follow up on the story and then concludes coverage. The major issue here however is that none of this happened as described, and some details are explicit lies.

The last image of Fanta Bility, taken just before the shooting that night at Academy Park High School.

By the end of the week, the Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer released an official statement. The story had changed (this will happen often in this article so I’ll be sure to recap later), and major details had finally been released. The DA claimed there was alleged gunfire “in the direction of three Sharon Hill Police Officers” who were “monitoring the crowd” as the crowd left the game.

The shot reportedly came from the crowd itself, not a vehicle as the police first claimed. Allegedly the police witnessed a member of the crowd get wounded, and then immediately returned fire in the direction they assumed the gunfire was coming from. Missing from this statement is any information on whether officers ever saw who was shooting or what were officers targeting. Also missing from this statement are any of the previous claims of there being a drive-by shooting, of any weapons being found in the vehicle officers fired upon, and of any suspects in custody. These previous statements will never be addressed or corrected in the future.

The most important detail was a report from the ballistics department, which stated that there is a “High probability police shot and killed 8-year-old Fanta Bility by mistake.” The DA concludes with a call for help from the public to identify who was the first shooter, and all officers involved are put on paid administrative leave.

Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer

The next update did not come till September 27th. Delaware County DA called for an investigative grand jury to be impaneled to look further into the case, finally confirming that the rounds that killed Fanta and injured 3 others were fired by Sharon Hill police officers.

“As the gunfire erupted on Coates Street, a car turned onto Coates Street directly in front of the officers. We have concluded that the gunfire, combined with the movement of the vehicle, precipitated responsive gunfire from the Sharon Hill police officers,” the statement read. At this point, who fired the initial rounds is still unknown, but potential suspects had been identified. The story would go cold until a month later, but the details only became more confusing.

Delco Times cover of the arrest of Angelo Ford, teenager now facing murder charges due to police shooting Fanta Bility.

Truth Lacking Guilt

On November 10^th, the District Attorney announced the arrest of Angelo Ford, a 16 year old connected with the shooting that sparked the incident. The charges? First degree murder of Fanta Bility. Ford was not the individual who shot her, but police argued his actions lead to her death, using an obscure law that can charge individuals for the results of their actions. 18-year-old Hasein Strand was identified as a second shooter. In the statement, the details once again change and more information is presented.

”A witness told investigators they observed Ford on Coates Street just outside the football game as the game ended. He was reportedly flashing a firearm that was inside his waistband and was heard making threats to others on the street.

Ford began shooting in a westbound direction toward Ridley Avenue and the witness says Strand shot back at Ford in the direction of the football field. The witness identified Strand in a photo as the person shooting back at Ford.” (Source). The individuals in the van police fired upon were revealed to be two 19-year-old girls who miraculously were uninjured. Once again, previous police statements that they recovered weapons from the van are never corrected or mentioned again.

Another important detail is the final location of where the initial shooting took place, the 900 block of Coates Street; placing the shots anywhere between 300 to 400 feet away from officers, a little over the length of a football field. Other details include that 21 9mm rounds were fired from 3 Sharon Hill police officers, and fired immediately upon hearing the first shots.

Meaning that 3 officers fired at minimum 7 rounds a piece without hesitation, at night, due to gunfire coming from an unknown, out-of-sight target, a football field away, into a van driven by a scared 19-year-old girl and a crowd of innocent people. Body camera footage of the shooting likely exists due to Sharon Hill officers being required to possess them, but has not been released to this day.

Google Street View image of the location directly outside the exit Sharon Hill officers fired from. Gun shots came from the far block pictured.

Conclusion

To recap this mess of a narrative:

• Police first claimed that it was a drive-by shooting that killed Fanta Bility. The first shots came from a minivan that had turned onto Coates St. That they had fired upon the suspect’s minivan, and that they had retrieved weapons from the shooters.
• Police then claimed that there was a chance that it was rounds from officers that killed Fanta, but never again addressed the weapons they alleged to have seized. Story changed to the gunshots coming from the crowd.
• Police admit they killed Fanta, and that they were looking for other suspects. Gunshots did not come from the crowd, but from a full block away.
• Police arrest Angelo Ford and charge him for the murder they committed, and hunt for Hasein Strand.

What we are left with is one of the most extreme cases of a bad police shooting I have ever witnessed. The fact that police did not pursue Brown or Strand from the scene or put out a statement that they were looking for other shooters until a month later, shows that officers never witnessed the altercation. Officers reacted instantly to gunfire with a barrage of bullets towards the first target they saw in the vague direction they heard gunfire…never once seeing a shot fired, a weapon, nor a clear suspect. The minivan with two 19-year-old girls was simply reacting to gun shots and attempting to flee the scene. The officers involved have neither been charged nor fired.

Once again, as I covered in my article about Johnny Hurley and will cover in other stories in the future, police in the U.S. appear to fail to act accordingly in instances of an active shooter. They continuously are shown to fire upon anyone and anything the moment gunfire erupts. Failing to check whether the target is actually the threat, what is behind and around their target, or whether it is called for to fire in the first place…

And always being immune to the consequences of their actions.

We also see a shocking increase of instances of the police pushing off blame of their actions onto other people. Whether it be on the two teenagers in this story or another similar case that happened recently in Bonneville County; a woman charged with manslaughter of a police officer after he was struck by another officer’s car. These cases may have always been around, but we are seeing them more and more. Does the law really have the power to charge you for an accident or crime someone else commits?

It seems likely that the police knew that night that they had killed Fanta. They likely never confiscated weapons at all from the minivan they fired upon, and never bothered to address this again after reporting so to the media. This circles back to the statement at the beginning of this article: should there be punishment for police departments who put out information to the press and public that appears to be designed to take the heat off of their actions? Should a Police Chief or DA be able to lie and omit to paint themselves in the best light possible? How do we address or fix this issue? Give me your ideas below.

You can find information on how to support the calls for justice for Fanta here.

Rest in peace Fanta Bility.

– Magnus Panvidya