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WILKES-BARRE — One of two teenagers accused of firing rounds from handguns in the Walmart Supercenter parking lot in Hazle Township at the height of the Holiday shopping season a year ago was sentenced in Luzerne County Court Thursday.

Frallen Jesus Perez, 16, of South Church Street, Hazle Township, was sentenced by President Judge Michael T. Vough to nine-to-23 months on two counts of aggravated assault followed by three years probation. Perez was permitted to serve his sentence at the county correctional facility where his attorney, William L. Stephens Jr., requested instead of the State Correctional Institution at Pine Grove, a youth offender institution in Indiana, Indiana County.

Perez, then 15, and another juvenile known as “Banga” exited a 2007 Honda driven by Juan Joel Albino, 19, of Hazleton, in the parking lot on Dec. 2, 2022, according to court records filed by the Pennsylvania State Police at Hazleton.

State police say surveillance cameras recorded Perez and “Banga” approach two other people and fired at least four shots before fleeing in Honda.

At the time of the shooting, state police said the parking lot was crowded with shoppers.

A witness managed to obtain the license plate to the Honda as it fled the parking lot.

Perez and Albino were apprehended during a traffic stop in Hazleton about one hour after the shooting, court records say.

An effort by Stephens to have Perez’s case decertified and transferred to Luzerne County Juvenile Court was withdrawn when prosecutors modified the aggravated assault counts from a first-degree felony to a second-degree felony on Nov. 1.

Prosecutors withdrew charges of illegal possession of a firearm by a minor, simple assault, reckless endangerment and harassment against Perez.

Court records say Albino is scheduled for trial in February on charges of criminal conspiracy to commit aggravated assault, criminal conspiracy to commit simple assault and criminal conspiracy to commit harassment. Albino remains free on $5,000 bail.

To date, “Banga” has not been identified.

No injuries were reported in the shooting.