SCRANTON -- After a weeks-long search, Scranton police brought a teenager facing murder charges back to our area Friday afternoon. That teen is accused of committing the first homicide in Scranton in just under two years.
Ryan Harding from Scranton had turned 18 two days before the shooting in the city's hill section and now it's possible he'll spend the rest of his adulthood behind bars.
Just 48 hours after he turned 18, Ryan Harding of Scranton was on the run. He hid from police for about two weeks but a cell phone call located him in Syracuse, New York and he was brought back to Scranton to answer to murder charges.
Police say Harding was the shooter in the incident that led to the city's first homicide in almost two years. It started as an argument between four young men and ended with Harding allegedly shooting Rahsan Crowder, 22, from Harrisburg.
Police identified Ryan Harding as the shooter just days later, but Harding the youngest man involved, was already on the run.
"A 15 year old today is not the same as one 15 years ago. They're progressed, they believe they're progressed and they're doing things today they didn't do 15 or 20 years ago." said Scranton Police Chief Carl Graziano.
Chief Graziano says Harding could now face life in prison. He was charged with first and third degree murder.
According to investigators, Harding had never met Rahsan Crowder before and witnesses said the argument started when Crowder looked at Harding the wrong way. Crowder was found shot and dying only feet away from his dorm.
Many of Rahsan Crowder's classmates at Lackawanna College are learning of this news while they're home on summer break. Crowder received his diploma posthumously at the school's graduation last week.
When officers were bringing Harding back to Scranton, Chief Graziano called Crowder's family in Harrisburg.
"There are no condolences you can give to someone who's lost a son, a brother, a loved one. The next best thing you can do is apprehend the person responsible and we have done that."
Another young man is facing murder charges related to this shooting. Ryan Harding's friend Marlon Clotter, 19, was arrested two weeks ago and charged with being an accomplice to murder. Police say Clotter told Harding to pull the trigger.