4 Teenagers Charged After Firefight With Lawmakers

State Reps. Flynn (left, via Facebook); Bizzarro (via Twitter)

Police in Harrisburg have charged four teenagers after State Rep. Marty Flynn engaged in a firefight with a man who was attempting to rob him and fellow Rep. Ryan Bizzarro just blocks from the state capitol building in Harrisburg.

Two 17-year-olds, Derek Anderson and Jamani Ellison, and two 15-year-olds, Jyair Leonard and Zha-quan McGhee, were arrested by police shortly after the Tuesday night shootout. Cops identified McGhee as the shooter; he’s charged with attempted homicide and other offenses. The other teens are charged with conspiracy and robbery. Despite their ages, all four have been charged as adults.

At a press conference yesterday, Flynn said neither he nor Bizzarro had their wallets on them when they were accosted on the street Tuesday around 11 p.m. by a man with a gun. Flynn said when he reached for his gun — in a holster strapped to his back — a lookout screamed a warning, and the assailant fired a shot at Bizzarro. “I knew he meant business,” Flynn told reporters. “It was him or Bizzarro.”

The assailants fled after a brief shootout with Flynn. No one was injured. Both Flynn and Bizzarro are first-term legislators.

Flynn fired two shots; the assailant fired once. “There was no aim or anything,” he said. “It was like Yosemite Sam from the Looney Toons.”

Flynn fought in 12 professional boxing matches as a super middleweight, going 10-2 in fights fights and 4 and 6 rounds in the early 2000s. His last fight was a 2007 loss via majority decision to Corey “The Boss Man” Budd.

This isn’t the first time Rep. Flynn has been in the news for his non-legislative exploits. In August of 2013, Flynn chased down a man “creeping” in his Scranton neighborhood. In 2012, he filed a lawsuit for injuries he said he suffered from falling on an uneven sidewalk. He said he didn’t have health insurance at the time.

Previously: 2 Pennsylvania Lawmakers Involved in Shootout Near Capitol

[Patriot News | Inquirer | Penn Live]