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FARRELL — Two arrests made Tuesday in the Dec. 30 shooting of popular Farrell bar owner William "Billy” Basilone Jr. are "just the beginning” to resolving a recent surge in violent crime in the Shenango Valley.

"This is not a joyful occasion,” Southwest Mercer County Regional Police Chief Riley Smoot said. "It’s very, very sad.”

Joshua Lee Stewart, 18, of 1218 Roemer Blvd, Apartment 2, Farrell, was charged with criminal homicide, and Devine A. Campbell, 17, of 17 Shenango Blvd., Farrell, was charged with conspiracy to commit criminal homicide, police said.

Both were arraigned by District Judge Ronald E. Antos, Farrell, and placed in Mercer County Jail without bond, which isn’t applicable in homicide cases. Even though he’s a minor, Cambell was charged as an adult, authorities said.

The men were arrested within hours of each other Tuesday afternoon outside their homes by members of the Mercer County Critical Incident Response Team.

CIRT also served search warrants on the addresses and removed pieces of evidence from each location. Smoot didn’t release a search inventory Tuesday.

"The arrest was based on usage of video footage and some eyewitnesses; people came forward,” Smoot said. "If it wasn’t for people coming forward, we would still be in the same place.”

Basilone, 58, lived above his namesake bar at 708 Roemer Blvd. He was pronounced dead at 12:24 a.m. Saturday at St. Elizabeth Health Center, Youngstown.

According to the police affidavit:

Witnesses told police Basilone went outside the bar at about 11:30 p.m. Friday and was shot about five times with a .22 caliber handgun. Nine shell casings were found at the scene.

Surveillance camera footage and witnesses indicated to police the gunman was Stewart, who was wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt. Two shots were fired, and Basilone went down on the sidewalk. The gunman stood over Basilone and fired several more shots at the bar owner.

Stewart then ran west on Hamilton Avenue, police said.

Witnesses and camera footage also indicated that Campbell was with Stewart and was seen "hanging around” the bar that night, including trying to get into the locked bar at least one time before the shooting.

Basilone wasn’t robbed during the shooting and $440 in cash, credit cards and a gold ring was found on him. A witness also told police there was no attempt to rob him, that "Joshua Stewart just walked up to William Basilone and started shooting him.”

The details of the crime shook Smoot, himself a Farrell native and father.

"I’m at a loss for words,” the police chief said. "It was very sad and discouraging to think (of) the possibility of teenagers resorting to this type of violence.

"It’s just upsetting,” Smoot said.

The arrests don’t mean the case is closed.

It’s too soon to say if the shooting was related to the armed robberies that have taken place in the Shenango Valley during the last couple months, Smoot said.

Police still need people’s help to end this surge in crime, he said.

"This investigation isn’t over,” Smoot said.

The arrests "prove that it works when people come forward and technology works,” he said of the surveillance video outside the bar and at neighboring businesses.

As word of the arrests spread by word of mouth and in cyberspace Tuesday, rumors spread that police wouldn’t confirm.

Smoot wouldn’t comment on the involvement of a 15-year-old or that the shooting spurred from a disagreement between Basilone and some youths over a pizza. He also wouldn’t say if the crime was gang-related.

"That’s a theory, (but) we have nothing to prove it,” Smoot said.

Both of the accused were on the social networking site Facebook and had several indirect things to say about the shooting after the fact.

One post on Sunday afternoon, a day and a half after the shooting, said, "Farrell getin real (and) i f–––––– love it lol (laugh out loud) happy new years.”

A post Monday asked why people were scared. First they complain Farrell is boring, he said, then they complain when something happens.

At 12:11 a.m. Monday, that person posted: "White lady kills her boyfriend....51 days in jail....A n–––– shoot a white girl....Dey lock dat n–––– up (and) throw away da key.”

Also on Monday, after reports of gunplay in Farrell where a 17-year-old girl was shot in the leg, Stewart posted the word "GunPlay” on Campbell’s Facebook page.

Campbell himself had less to say publicly, but at 4:24 a.m. Saturday he posted: "Pistolvania.”

Campbell’s page indicated he had been a student in Farrell Area School District, and the school, which is within a mile of where Stewart was picked up, was on temporary lockdown Tuesday afternoon.

Both had GEDs, Smoot said, and neither was a native of Farrell. Stewart’s Facebook page indicates a tie to San Diego, Calif., while Campbell had ties to Hermitage.

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