56-year-old father killed in apparent road-rage shooting in Upper Darby; suspect in custody

A man was in custody Friday night in the fatal shooting of a 56-year-old father from Haverford who was killed while he was in his work van during an apparent road-rage incident in Upper Darby early in the morning, police said.

The man contacted an attorney who arranged to have him surrender to police, Upper Darby Police Superintendent Timothy M. Bernhardt said.

Charges were pending a review by the Delaware County District Attorney’s Office, Bernhardt said. The man’s name and age are being withheld until he is charged.

Police recovered a white, four-door Audi sedan that the suspect allegedly drove, Bernhardt said. The car had a bullet hole in one of its windows.

Shortly before 8 a.m. Friday, township police received a call about a man slumped over the steering wheel of a white box van at a red light on Lansdowne Avenue at Winding Way, Bernhardt said.

Police arrived and immediately saw that the man had been shot in the left side of his head. The man was transported to an area hospital and pronounced dead.

Surveillance video shows some type of interaction between the victim and someone in the Audi at the red light, then the car speeds away eastbound on Lansdowne while the light is still red, Bernhardt said.

Another motorist at the red light is seen on the video getting out to check on the van’s driver and that person called police, Bernhardt said.

The victim, who was married with four children, was on his work shift at the time, Bernhardt said. His name was being withheld pending notification of his family.

The shooting scene was near Upper Darby High School and Monsignor Bonner and Archbishop Prendergast Catholic High School, but the shooting occurred before classes and no one else reported hearing the gunfire, Bernhardt said.