Two men charged with pursuing a man in Lancaster city, then fatally shooting him on East Chestnut Street will be tried, a district judge ordered after a preliminary hearing Monday.

The judge was shown several minutes of camera footage that depicted Ryan Rivera and Brian Paltan following Tyreek Gardner around an east Lancaster city neighborhood on May 30, initially challenging him to a fight then opening fire on two blocks – fatally wounding him on a sidewalk.

The final piece of video played for the judge: Gardner is seen walking on East Chestnut Street, a vehicle carrying Rivera and Paltan follows, and as all clear the camera’s periphery, four gunshots are heard.

First Assistant District Attorney Travis S. Anderson presented the video evidence during a 90-minute hearing that ended with District Judge William Reuter ruling that enough was presented to bound Rivera’s and Paltan’s cases to trial in Lancaster County Court.

Neither man is eligible for bail. Rivera wore a yellow jumpsuit and Paltan a green jumpsuit during the preliminary hearing.

Both men are seen in the camera footage. Detectives said they were identified aided by distinct visual characteristics: Rivera has tattoos on his neck and left arm; Paltan was wearing “bright white pants” on the night of the killing.

Lancaster city police detectives testified that two women – partners of Gardner and Paltan – identified the men in the camera footage.

Gardner’s partner witnessed an altercation involving the three men minutes before the shooting. She and Gardner were walking together when Rivera and Paltan engaged them, asking Gardner for a fight, the detectives testified.

Gardner and his partner believed Rivera was armed because he had his hand in a pocket and they knew of his “history of carrying a firearm,” a detective testified.

The partner said Gardner did not fight the men, but instead fled the scene, telling her to walk a separate path back home.

Gardner is seen in the camera footage, appearing to attempt to avoid the men. At one point, he is seen looking back over his shoulder as he jogged. Unbeknownst to him, he jogged right past a parked vehicle that would contain his pursuers, a detective testified.

Also among testimony Monday:

• The vehicle in the footage is Paltan’s Volkswagen Passat. It had a distinct taillight style and a missing hubcap on a tire. When police stopped that vehicle a couple weeks after the shooting, Paltan was inside – along with ammunition that matched a shell casing found at the shooting scene.
• Shell casings were found at both shooting scenes, on East Chestnut Street and Tobacco Avenue. Testing revealed two firearms fired the rounds. Six Federal brand shell casings were found at the scenes – two on Tobacco Avenue and four on East Chestnut Street. A GECO brand casing (the same found in Paltan’s vehicle) also was found on Tobacco Avenue.

• The four casings on East Chestnut Street were on the street, in an area where vehicles would park along the curb.
• In one video clip, Paltan (identified by his white pants) takes a swing at Gardner. Gardner is shot minutes later.
• Paltan told police he was in the area on May 30, but lied about being alone in his vehicle.

Lancaster city police Detective Thomas Ginder filed charges.

Assistant District Attorney Trista Boyd is co-counsel for the Commonwealth.

MEDIA CONTACT: Brett A. Hambright, 717-295-2041; bhambright@co.lancaster.pa.us; Twitter: @BrettHambright