College junior Bryan Warner was released on $50,000 bail late Thursday night after being arrested and charged with the shooting of a West Philadelphia man, police officials said.
Philadelphia Police Lt. John Walker said that police suspect Warner of firing two shots at a restaurant near the intersection of 52nd and Spruce streets at about 2:50 p.m. on Jan. 26, striking a West Philadelphia man once in the thigh. Warner was arrested on Wednesday.
Warner's preliminary hearing is scheduled for Feb. 16.
The victim and one other eyewitness identified Warner as the gunman in a photo lineup, leading to Warner's arrest, Walker said.
Police charged Warner with attempted murder, aggravated assault and related offenses.
Walker said that police have access to surveillance footage from the restaurant but that the shooting was out of the cameras' range.
According to Warner's lawyer, Richard Harris, the victim falsely identified Warner.
Warner's photo appeared in the photo lineup because he was arrested on assault charges for his involvement in a fight on campus last year.
According to Harris, Warner was acting in self-defense in that incident, and police eventually dropped all charges.
Harris said the victim in the January incident knew the shooter well and had had a confrontation with him the day before the shooting.
The victim also referred to the shooter as "Biggie," a nickname that no one has used to identify Warner, Harris said.
He added that, while Warner has no facial hair, the victim initially described the gunman as having a goatee.
"Identification testimony is one of the more unreliable pieces of evidence for the prosecution," Harris said.
The victim "knows exactly who did it," he added. "If the person was so brave to shoot him in broad daylight, do you think the [victim] would have any reservations for identifying this person? Of course he would. He's scared. But he has to say something to the police."
Harris said that several people can corroborate that Warner was on campus at the time of the shooting.
Warner has also never been inside the restaurant in question, Harris said.
Philadelphia Police searched Warner's room inside the St. Elmo fraternity house following his arrest but failed to find a firearm, Walker said.
Harris said that the police also did not discover any clothing that matched the victim's description of the shooter's apparel.
"The motive for why the shooter shot the victim doesn't fly with what everyone knows about Bryan," Harris said. "Here's a student who is doing well academically. Why would he have any involvement in a shooting with someone he doesn't know?"
Warner is scheduled to return to classes today.
"He's upset, extremely angry [and] frustrated," Harris said. "It is extremely disconcerting for a student at an urban university to be identified as a shooter in a case in which he has no involvement whatsoever."
College senior and St. Elmo President Eric Cheung said of Warner since his release, "He's upset about the situation, and that's understandable."
Cheung added that the existing pieces of evidence "tell us what we knew from the beginning -- that he was innocent."
