DUNMORE, Pa. — Five days after the shooting death of Joseph Roberson, 17, of Thornhurst, police have arrested two men — Evan Wasko and Liam O'Malley, both 18.
Investigators say O'Malley and Wasko were in Dunmore at the Sleep Inn on Friday night. O'Malley received a call from a friend who told him she was at a party on Bowens Road in Spring Brook Township and was having issues with another man. Court paperwork says O'Malley planned to go to the party to beat him up.
"The individuals were there for no good, for violence. And violence occurred. It's a shocking incident, of course, when we are dealing with kids involved with guns and violence of this nature," said Lackawanna County District Attorney Mark Powell.
According to the affidavit, O'Malley went inside the hotel to get his handgun, but Wasko said, "You're drunk. I'm not," and took the gun from him,
"The defendant O'Malley was an individual who should not possess a gun. We are amending charges to add that as a charge against him," Powell noted.
When Wasko and O'Malley got to the party on Bowens Road, court papers show that Roberson went up to their car and started talking to O'Malley. Another person in the car told troopers that he heard a bang and then heard Evan Wasko yell, "I just shot him, and he dropped."
The car sped off. Roberson was found lying on the ground with a gunshot wound to the head. He later died at a hospital.
Wasko is charged with homicide and other related charges.
O'Malley is also facing a list of charges for his involvement.
Both men remain in the Lackawanna County Jail.
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