Bucks Co. Man Was With Bensalem Shooting Suspect In Ohio

BENSALEM TOWNSHIP, PA —The person of interest in the Halloween triple shooting that killed a 14-year-old township student had a passenger with him from Bucks County when he fled Ohio police last week, authorities said.

But whether that passenger is involved in the triple shooting has not been ruled out.

"We're still actively investigating all possibilities," Public Safety Director William McVey told Patch. "There's no indication at this time that the subject from Ohio was with him on the night of the shooting but nothing is definitive yet."

McVey said as of Tuesday afternoon, there was no new information to report.

Sean Hughes, 19, had been identified as the person of interest in the Halloween triple shooting by the Bensalem Police Department and the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office based on their investigative leads and tips from the public.

Peter Romano, 14, a Snyder Middle School student, was one of three teenagers who were shot around Bristol Pike at 7:35 p.m. on Halloween, police said. Romano was shot in the chest and pronounced dead upon arrival at the hospital.

Bensalem Township Police said the shots came from a parked vehicle at 2600 Bristol Pike in the area of Bristol Pike and Woodbine Avenue where a large group of juveniles were fighting.

The vehicle used in the shooting was identified as a grey 2014 Hyundai Elantra, authorities said.

The suspect's vehicle was captured by surveillance cameras at the scene of the murder and by Bensalem Township intersection cameras as it fled northbound on Bristol Pk. after the shooting.

The investigation by Bensalem Detectives led to the identification of the registration plate, which was PA JHF-2866. It was also determined that the vehicle was previously stolen out of Bristol Township.

The vehicle and registration plate were entered into the National Criminal Intelligence Center as a felony vehicle, police said.

On Thursday, the Marysville Police Department in Ohio, observed the 2014 Hyundai Elantra and attempted to conduct a traffic stop based on a License Plate Reader hit.

The driver failed to stop and a pursuit ensued. The driver of the vehicle eventually exited the vehicle and ran on foot.

When police located the driver, he was dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The driver was identified as Hughes, the person of interest in the murder.

But Hughes also had a passenger with him.

According to reports, the passenger was identified as Joshua Marquez, 25, who was charged Friday in Ohio with felony weapons possession.

Marquez was being held in Marysville, Ohio, on a $250,000 bond. He has not been charged with any crimes in Pennsylvania and has not been identified in the homicide investigation in Bucks County, the Bucks County Courier Times reported.

NBC Philadelphia had obtained video of when Marquez was apprehended.

Court records state that Marquez is from Levittown and was involved when he was a teenager in a robbery in 2015.

A GoFundMe page has been launched to help pay for funeral expenses. So far, the page has raised more than $22,000 of its $20,000 goal.

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