Falls police catch shooting suspect

Falls Police Criminal Investigation Division detectives have made an arrest in the city's most recent homicide.

Investigators said they collared Arion Darrell at around 2:15 p.m. Friday in a home on the 600 block of Seventh Street. Detectives said Darrell, 18, was taken into custody without incident.

He is charged with second-degree murder and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon. 

The arrest came just hours after investigators had issued a release on their search for Darrell for the Tuesday slaying of John Bruso, 18, who was gunned down as he sat in the passenger seat of a parked car in the 1700 block of Welch Avenue.

Bruso was shot multiple times, in the back, in what family members said was a dispute over money.

Police had warned that Darrell might have been armed with a handgun and offered a $2,500 reward for information leading to his arrest.

Falls police responded to a call of a shooting in the 1700 block of Welch Avenue about 1:38 p.m. Tuesday. When they arrived they found a black sedan parked at the curb with blood in the passenger’s seat.

Bruso had already been taken to Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center by a family member. He was pronounced dead at NFMMC a short time later.

Witnesses said a gunman approached Bruso’s car, opened the door and began firing.

Sources said the victim had indicated, prior to the shooting, that he “owed a lot of money” to someone. The debt was reportedly linked to drug sales.