Suspect in Ardmore fatal shooting captured in Georgia | News

Derrick Rollins, the man suspected of gunning down a man outside an Ardmore apartment building last month, has been captured in Georgia, officials said.

Rollins, 24, was taken into custody by federal marshals in Decatur, Ga. He had been evading a massive manhunt sparked by the fatal shooting of John Le, of Narberth, who was visiting a friend in the Ardmore section of Haverford Township the last week of July.

Rollins, who has addresses in Philadelphia, was suspected of a shooting in the city before the fatal Ardmore shooting. He is now being held in the Dekalb County Jail pending extradition.

It is believed Rollins surrendered to K9 units after he was spotted with a female acquaintance.

Le was reportedly visiting a friend on the 2300 block Haverford Road in the Ardmore section of Haverford Township around 6:10 p.m. Saturday July 29 when Rollins allegedly approached and fatally shot Le in the torso.

Images of Rollins had been widely circulated following what authorities said was the first homicide in Haverford in more than a decade.

The U.S. Marshals office posted an additional $2,500 to the $5,000 put up by the Delaware County District Attorney’s office for the arrest and conviction of the man wanted in Le’s murder.

Authorities identified Rollins as the man wearing a red hoodie whose image was captured on surveillance camera running from the scene on the 2300 block of Haverford Road where Le was shot. Authorities said Le had just left a pizza shop and was walking to a friend’s nearby apartment when he was ambushed at the door.

Delaware County District Attorney Jack Whelan said the gunman had already walked past Original Eagle Pizza before Le exited the shop.

“He seemed to double back and follow him,” Whelan said of the suspect. “We have no motive, no reason why this young man was gunned down and assassinated.”

Le was a graduate of Lower Merion High School and Temple University. He worked as an accountant at Sneaker Villa on Arch Street in Center City Philadelphia where friends claimed he had hoped to design a sneaker for his favorite pastime, disc golf.

Le was a regular at Sedgley Woods Disc Golf Course in the Fairmount Park section of Philadelphia.

A coworker from Sneaker Villa said Le was “such an awesome young man, super friendly, intelligent and hard working.”

Less than an hour before Le was slain, two men were uninjured when Rollins reportedly sprayed 17 shots after being questioned for looking into the rear entrance of a residence on the 1600 block of North 77th Street in Overbrook. Philadelphia police said when Rollins was confronted, he pulled out a gun started firing.

A charcoal gray Volvo was seen driving erratically away from the Overbrook scene. Later, another witness in Haverford Township saw the same vehicle speeding away from the scene of Le’s murder. Police believe Rollins drove the vehicle from the scene of the first shooting into Ardmore, then used it as a getaway car after the murder.

Rollins had addresses in the 5100 block of Locust Street, where the gray Volvo was recovered, and on the 4000 block of North A Street, both in Philadelphia.

According to online court records, Rollins was sentenced May 6, 2014, to a maximum five years of probation after he entered a negotiated guilty plea on a February 2014 charge of possession with the intent to deliver or manufacture.

Online court records also show that Rollins was arrested July 24, 2014, on charges including possession of a firearm prohibited, firearms not to be carried without a license and carrying a firearm in public in Philadelphia. Though he was held for trial on the charges, a motion for release was filed Oct. 20, 2015, under Rule 600 – which guarantees the right to a speedy trial for all criminal defendants. The disposition of that motion was not immediately available.

Viola said Rollin’s criminal history dates back to when he was juvenile.