Prison guard arrested for shooting of teen bystander

Police have arrested a city corrections officer for allegedly blasting his gun at another man Sunday during an argument inside an East Germantown park - and instead hitting a 16-year-old bystander.

Duval Nelson, 38, of Warnock Street near Spencer in Fern Rock, was charged with aggravated and simple assault and recklessly endangering another person, police said. The teen, who wasn't involved in the men's dispute, remains in critical condition at Einstein Medical Center, police said.

The incident happened at 8:19 p.m. in Carpenter Park, near Morton and Duval streets. Witnesses told police they saw Nelson and an unknown man arguing inside the park. The unknown man punched Nelson in the face, and Nelson allegedly responded by pulling a black handgun from his waistband and firing twice at his attacker, police said. Nelson's alleged target fled, uninjured, witnesses told investigators. He hasn't been located, police said.

But the teen caught a bullet in the neck and ran to his nearby home, where he collapsed outside, police said.

Nelson fled the scene in his car and drove to the 35^th district, at Broad and Champlost in Ogontz, to surrender, police said. He's being held at the Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility on $250,000 bail pending an Aug. 7 preliminary hearing, according to court records.

Nelson, who has worked as a correctional officer since 2006, worked in the Alternative and Special Detention division, a low-custody facility, prisons spokeswoman Shawn Hawes said. His job status is "pending," Hawes added.