Man not contesting charges for shooting over slammed car door

WILKES-BARRE — A second man accused in a shooting over a slammed vehicle door in a busy Wilkes-Barre Township parking lot is not contesting charges.

Nicholas Anthony Gilliard, 26, of Tobyhanna and formerly of North Empire Court, Wilkes-Barre, entered a no contest plea to attempted aggravated assault with a deadly weapon before Luzerne County Judge David W. Lupas on Monday.

Gilliard and Johnny Elijah Credle, 49, of East Ridge Street, Nanticoke, were charged by Wilkes-Barre Township police after investigating a shooting between the two men in the 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 GameStop, 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 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.

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 to be sentenced Dec. 12.

Credle was sentenced by Lupas on Oct. 16 to two years restrictive probation 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.