Man to be charged in Kensington shooting that wounded an 8-year-old as she left school last May

Law enforcement officials say they have identified the man who fired multiple shots near a Kensington school last spring, wounding three people, including an 8-year-old girl and a teacher.

Angel Velez, 34, is expected to be charged with aggravated assault, criminal attempt to commit murder, illegal gun possession, and related crimes for shooting down the 300 block of East Allegheny Avenue on May 23, 2024.

Video from the scene showed that Velez crashed his scooter into a car and fell into the street, then stood up and started firing a 9mm handgun indiscriminately down the block, police said. The shots flew in all directions as teachers and children were being dismissed from nearby schools for the day.

A 45-year-old man walking by on the sidewalk was struck in the leg. A 47-year-old woman who taught at Conwell Middle School was shot in the face. She was driving home when a bullet flew through her car window.

» READ MORE: An 8-year-old shot in the head on her way home from school shows what’s at stake in Kensington

Orlando Natareno had just picked up his 8-year-old daughter, Keilyn, from Lewis Elkin Elementary School when a bullet exploded through the front windshield of his truck. The projectile struck the side of Keilyn’s head, grazing her skull and avoiding more catastrophic injuries by a mere centimeter, doctors said.

Assistant District Attorney Bill Fritze, who heads the Gun Violence Task Force, said investigators used surveillance video and ballistic and DNA evidence at the scene to link Velez to the shooting.

Velez is in the custody of federal authorities in Philadelphia, who arrested him last year and charged him with being part of a drug- and gun-trafficking ring called “Avila DTO” that sold fentanyl, cocaine, and other narcotics across North Philadelphia.

Fritze said his office would charge Velez with the Kensington shooting once his case with federal authorities is complete.

Natareno said he was elated when officials told him that they had identified the gunman. He and Keilyn moved to Pennsauken at the beginning of this year, he said, in part because they were afraid the shooter might still be in the neighborhood.

The shooting was traumatic for Keilyn, a bubbly child who loves unicorns, causing her to have nightmares and preventing her from finishing her school year. But within weeks, her father said, she had returned to playing with her friends and siblings, cherishing the gifts and treats they had showered her with.

Still, Natareno said, anytime they drove down Allegheny Avenue, Keilyn would relive the trauma of being shot.

“She would say, ‘Daddy, this is where the accident happened,’” he said. “And I’d say, ‘Yes mama, this was the accident.’”

He hasn’t told his daughter of Velez’s arrest, he said, because he doesn’t want to invite bad memories. She is enjoying her new school and teachers in Pennsauken, he said, and although the area where the bullet struck her head has healed, it’s still sensitive.

It could take years for Velez’s federal case to be completed and for the Philadelphia case to proceed. And court records show he has a lengthy criminal history, spending several yearslong stints in prison over the last two decades.

In 2009, Philadelphia court records show, he pleaded guilty to drug crimes, including engaging in a criminal conspiracy to manufacture or sell drugs, and was sentenced to up to 23 months in jail.

He was arrested again for selling drugs in the city the following year and ordered to inpatient drug and alcohol treatment. He was later charged with illegal gun possession and aggravated assault and was sentenced to five to 10 years in prison in 2015.

In 2019, while incarcerated in Luzerne County, he was charged with possessing contraband before his release in the fall of 2019.

By May 2024, investigators say he was back on the streets of Kensington, armed with a gun, and ready to use it.