Two Aliquippa men landed in Beaver County Jail over the weekend after police say a traffic stop tied to gunfire near Wade Street Extension turned up a loaded handgun and a revolver stuffed with both fired and unfired rounds. Officers say 18-year-old Kyle Moreland and 21-year-old Lamont McElvy, both residents of the city, were taken into custody once investigators determined neither man had a license to carry a concealed firearm.
According to WPXI, officers responded to reports of multiple gunshots fired near Wade Street Extension and began searching the surrounding area for the source. Police located a vehicle matching a witness description, conducted a traffic stop, and recovered two concealed firearms from passengers riding inside, the outlet reported.
Officers say the haul included a loaded .380-caliber handgun along with a .38-caliber revolver containing both fired and unfired ammunition, per the station's report. Police determined that neither passenger possessed a valid license to carry a concealed firearm, and both men were arrested on the spot.
Charges Filed, Both Men Held in Beaver County
Moreland and McElvy were lodged in Beaver County Jail following their arrests, with each individual charged with carrying a firearm without a license, the same account notes. No further court proceedings, pleas, or case outcomes have been reported, and the charges remain allegations at this stage.
Under Pennsylvania's firearms statute, Title 18, Section 6106, carrying a concealed weapon without a valid license is generally classified as a third-degree felony, though the law carves out numerous exceptions and conditions, according to the Pennsylvania General Assembly. The statute also provides that someone who is otherwise eligible for a license but simply hasn't obtained one, and who has committed no other criminal violation, can instead face a first-degree misdemeanor.
Part of a Broader Push on Illegal Guns in Beaver County
The arrests come amid a wider crackdown on illegal firearms across Beaver County. In separate reporting, WPXI detailed raids that confiscated five firearms and various narcotics, noting that four of the seized weapons were equipped with illegal rapid-fire Glock switches. The outlet also reported that Beaver County detectives and the ATF started a partnership over the summer to analyze weapons in police custody for possible connections to unresolved shootings.
That effort has included testing shell casings from a separate Sept. 29 shooting on Wade Street in Aliquippa, where investigators recovered between 50 and 60 shell casings after a 19-year-old victim was wounded, the same outlet reported. Those casings were sent to a laboratory to determine whether they match any of the confiscated weapons. Available evidence does not connect that shooting, or any of Beaver County's other recent gun investigations, to the arrests of Moreland and McElvy.
Wade Street has seen repeated gunfire reports in recent memory. Beaver County Radio previously reported on a 2024 shots-fired call in the 700 block of Wade Street, in which callers described a tan or gold GMC Acadia leaving the scene before officers stopped a matching vehicle nearby; no people or property were struck in that incident. The outlet also reported on a separate shots-fired case at the Plan 12 section of Wade Street, where a resident told police her home had been hit, though no one was injured.
