DA, police to announce new information on downtown Allentown shooting

The Lehigh County district attorney’s office and Allentown police will release new information Friday morning on a shooting that injured eight people over the weekend in downtown Allentown .

The DA’s office said there will be a news conference at 11 a.m. in Allentown to announce developments in the case. No information will be released before then.

Investigators have not released many details on the shooting that happened about 6:45 p.m. Sunday in the 100 block of North Seventh Street, not far from where the annual Dominican Festival was being held. One person, 21-year-old Yunior Peralta-Santiago, has been charged.

Police have said several people were shooting at each other. Officers spotted Peralta-Santiago shooting at a group of people there, according to court documents. Eight people were hit by gunfire, one of whom needed surgery.

Responding officers “engaged” with the groups shooting at each other, but officials do not believe any of those injured were shot by the two officers who fired their guns.

DA Gavin Holihan said in a statement Wednesday that the none of the eight people shot suffered life-threatening injuries.

He described the crime scene as “chaotic” and noted there was a lot of evidence to process and many witnesses to interview. It was too early, Holihan said Wednesday, to detail exactly what happened and if anyone else would be charged.

Peralta-Santiago is charged with attempted homicide. He was sent to Lehigh County Jail without bail.