Indiana police detail robbery, shooting investigation near IUP

Three masked Philadelphia men mistakenly robbed three people at the wrong house last month in Indiana, according to borough police Chief Justin Schawl.

When they realized their mistake, the group went a few doors down on Wayne Avenue to their intended target, leaving one person there with a gunshot wound to the neck, Schawl said.

“We believe that the robbery was precipitated by a transaction for a quantity of marijuana,” he said.

Four people have been arrested in connection with the Feb. 14 robberies and shooting at the two homes that involved six students at nearby Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Schawl and Indiana County District Attorney Robert Manzi Jr. praised the coordinated investigative efforts over the last couple weeks among local, state and federal police agencies.

“Throughout the past several weeks, law enforcement has worked in concert to sift through numerous pieces of evidence, to execute many search warrants, utilize cutting-edge technology and their training and experience to bring forth these charges,” Manzi said.

Borough police identified the four suspects as:

• Daron Reel, 19; charged with attempted homicide, robbery, conspiracy and related offenses. Police identified him as the shooter.

• Nafis Dandre Miles-Harper, 23; charged with robbery, conspiracy and related offenses. Police said he was one of the masked men and owner of the vehicle the group used.

• Mamadi Saccoh, 20, charged with the same offenses as Miles-Harper. Police said he acted as a lookout.

• Samuel Nyenow Wilson, 20, charged with the same offenses as Miles-Harper. Police said he was the third masked man.

Reel, Saccoh and Miles-Harper are IUP students, according to university spokeswoman Michelle Fryling.

“We’ll be following our student judicial conduct system,” she said. “Anyone that is a student is held accountable for any kind of issues on or off campus.”

Police were called to Wayne Avenue just before 8 p.m. for a report of a robbery. The man who had been shot was rushed to Indiana Regional Medical Center. A second man had a head injury after being hit with a firearm, according to court papers.

Police say video surveillance from nearby businesses showed three men enter the wrong house at 7:45 p.m. The group took several items, including computers, cellphones, a gaming system and controllers and wallets, according to court papers.

“Two male residents and a female guest … were robbed at gunpoint,” Schawl said.

A fourth person to whom some of the stolen items belonged was not home. Police said the suspects then went to the second house, where two men were inside.

The man who was shot told police the next day at Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh that he fought off the suspects and pushed them outside.

“As this was occurring, the last male out of the residence pointed the firearm at the victim’s head from 2 to 4 feet away and shot the victim in the face,” borough Officer John Scherf wrote in a complaint. “The bullet entered the chin, came out of the neck and into the victim’s right shoulder, causing a serious injury.”

The robbers did not get drugs, and none were found in either home by investigators, Schawl said. One of the men in the second house had communication earlier in the day that led him to believe he may be getting set up for a robbery.

“There were a series of conversations that took place prior to both robberies and subsequent shooting,” Schawl said. “The text messages were between a resident … and at least one person we believe to be involved in the subsequent robberies.”

University officials quickly got out word of the violence to students. Police believed, based on information provided by witnesses, that there wasn’t any danger to the community, Schawl said.

Police started to track down the suspects with the help of surveillance video that showed a vehicle suspected to be involved, according to court papers. Police executed 13 search warrants during the investigation, Schawl said.

They later recovered some of the stolen items at an apartment occupied by Wilson and Saccoh. Both admitted to investigators their involvement in the robberies, according to court papers.

Fryling said counseling and other community resources are available for those who were involved, as well as others on campus.

“We understand an event like this, violence like this, because it is unusual in our community, does bring very strong feelings to our students and our community,” she said.

Reel was being held in the county jail in lieu of $300,000 bond. Bond was set at $150,000 for Saccoh, Miles-Harper and Wilson. None of the suspects had attorneys listed in online court records. Preliminary hearings are set for March 12.