CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story incorrectly said that a second person was charged in connection with the police-involved shooting Sunday that injured 8 people. The second arrest was related to a reported gun incident Sunday night but was separate and not connected to the earlier shooting.
ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Two Allentown men are facing charges after gunfire erupted Sunday night at a downtown festival.
Yunior Peralta-Quintana, 21, on Monday morning was charged with attempted homicide and aggravated assault in Lehigh County Court.
He also faces two misdemeanors, according to court records. Police said Peralta-Quintana lives in Bethlehem, but court documents list an Allentown address for him.
Peralta-Quintana was in Lehigh County Jail on Monday without the option of bail, according to court records.
He is accused of shooting a gun at a group of people about 6:45 p.m. Sunday in the 100 block of North Seventh Street in Center City, where hundreds were celebrating the city’s annual Dominican Festival.
Police said “multiple people sustained gunshot wounds" after officers fired their guns, but it was not immediately clear how many discharged their weapons and whether any of the injured were shot by police.
Eight people were hit by gunfire, according to police.
Authorities allege shootout
Allentown officers ran toward a parking lot in the area after hearing gunfire there and found “several people actively shooting at each other,” Capt. Thomas Anderson said Monday in a news release.
Police shot at people who were shooting, Anderson said.
“Multiple people sustained gunshot wounds,” Anderson said in the release, but it was not immediately clear how many officers discharged their weapons and whether any of the injured were shot by police.
Allentown Police Department did not respond Monday to follow-up questions about the news release.
"This is yet another familiar story in our city, where disputes that might only involve bruises, devolve into bullets, blood, and mayhem."State Rep. Josh Siegel, D-Lehigh
Eight people were injured and needed treatment, including one who required life-saving surgery, according to charging documents filed against Peralta-Quintana.
All are expected to survive, police said Monday.
Second incident
Authorities on Monday also charged Gregory Plasencio in connection with another gun-related incident at Sunday’s festival, near the PPL Center at 701 Hamilton St.
Plasencio, 26, of Allentown, faces a single misdemeanor charge of reckless endangerment.
An Allentown officer stopped Plasencio at the festival about 8:50 p.m. after hearing a gunshot and found a revolver on him, as well as a spent cartridge casing, police allege in charging documents.
Plasencio told the officer his friend was attacked by several men before they fought over a gun, according to court records.
Authorities said Allentown surveillance footage shows Plasencio shooting into the ground shortly after.
That footage showed “a large group of people … standing on the sidewalk and near food vendors when [Plasencio] fire[d] his gun into the ground,” according to the criminal complaint filed against him.
State Rep. Josh Siegel, whose district includes Center City Allentown, on Monday decried "another young person in Allentown making a foolish, reckless and life-altering decision."
"This is yet another familiar story in our city, where disputes that might only involve bruises, devolve into bullets, blood, and mayhem," said Siegel, D-Lehigh.
"We must do more to interrupt this cycle, through certainty of punishment for offenders and more investment in our youth to prevent future instances."
