Darby teen used a ghost gun to kill another teen outside a corner store, DA says

A 15-year-old Darby boy has been charged with murder after police say he shot and killed one teen and injured another outside a corner store on Monday afternoon.

Samir Austin faces charges of first- and third-degree murder, aggravated assault, and firearms offenses. He remained in custody, denied bail.

Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer, in announcing Austin’s arrest Wednesday, said the shooting was “about as bad a failure as we can have in America.”

“They should both be in high school,” he said. “But one is dead and another is in jail.”

Police in the Delaware County borough responded to reports of a shooting about 4 p.m. Monday outside the Darby Quick Mart on Main Street. There, the officers found two males, 15 and 18, who had been shot, according to the affidavit of probable cause for Austin’s arrest.

Stollsteimer and Darby Police Chief Joe Gabe declined to identify the younger victim at the family’s request.

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The 15-year-old, who lived in Yeadon, had been shot twice in his chest, and was taken to Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead. The 18-year-old, whom police also did not identify, had been shot in the left arm, and was later treated at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center.

Witnesses inside the store at the time, as well as others who saw the shooting, identified Austin as the gunman, police said. The shooting was also captured by the store’s surveillance camera, and showed Austin, who was wearing a distinct winter jacket and pants, pull a black 9mm handgun from his waistband.

He fired the gun after leaving the store, turning around to target the other teens inside, Stollsteimer said. The motive for the shooting remained under investigation, but police said Austin and the other 15-year-old both likely attended Penn Wood High School. While they were in the store together before the shooting, there didn’t appear to be any argument between them leading up to the gunfire, according to Stollsteimer.

“So many times when we see these cases, they’re over some stupid dispute and lead to complete tragedy,” he said. “A response completely out of proportion.”

Investigators executed a search warrant on Austin’s home on Tuesday and recovered the clothing he was seen wearing in the surveillance video. Under a deck behind the home next to Austin’s, they found a disassembled 9mm “ghost gun”— a firearm assembled from a kit ordered online.

Investigators said they are still working to determine how Austin obtained the gun.

The announcement of Austin’s arrest on Wednesday comes almost exactly one month after police in nearby Upper Darby caught the alleged killer of another 15-year-old boy.

In that case, Marson Weh, 24, has been charged with stabbing Michael Garr to death as Garr was walking home from his girlfriend’s house last year. Weh’s prosecution on first-degree murder and related crimes is pending.