Credle, Wilkes-Barre Township Police Department
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WILKES-BARRE —A Nanticoke man involved in a shooting after an apparent altercation over a slammed vehicle door was sentenced to probation Wednesday.
Luzerne County Judge David W. Lupas sentenced Johnny Elijah Credle, 49, of East Ridge Street, to two years in the restrictive probation program with the first nine months on house arrest with electronic monitoring. Credle was sentenced for a no contest plea to criminal attempt to commit aggravated assault, which was negotiated by his attorney, Matthew T. Muckler, on Aug. 8.
Credle and Nicholas Anthony Gilliard, 26, of North Empire Court, Wilkes-Barre, were charged by Wilkes-Barre Township police and county detectives after investigating a shooting between the two men in Wilkes-Barre Township Marketplace parking lot on Nov. 9, 2023.
Multiple 9mm and 10mm shell casings were recovered from the area of Top Choice Smoke Shop, I-Nails and Game Stop, according to court records.
Court records say Gilliard and a woman exited Credle’s 2017 BMW shortly after entering the vehicle in the shopping center’s parking lot.
As Gilliard and the woman got out of the BMW, they slammed the vehicle door before Credle began to drive away, court records say.
Court records say Credle claimed he heard gunshots, stopped his vehicle and got out to return fire before fleeing the scene.
Investigators traced the BMW to Credle’s residence in Nanticoke.
Gilliard told police, court records say, he fired a number of shots at the BMW but only after the driver aimed a gun at him while he was inside the vehicle.
Gilliard is scheduled for trial the week of Oct. 21 on a charge of criminal attempt to commit aggravated assault.
No injuries were reported in the shooting.