SCHENECTADY – Two men have been convicted by a Schenectady County jury on charges that they shot two innocent female bystanders in Schenectady in the summer of 2007.

Charles Ardrey, 20, and Joel Hernandez, 28, were found guilty of various assault charges, possession of a firearm and reckless endangerment in connection with the shooting. Ardrey was also found guilty of felony cocaine possession and tampering with evidence.

A third participant, Diondrea McCaskill, is under indictment and is scheduled to go on trial later this year.

The convictions stem from an incident on the afternoon of August 6, 2007 in which the defendants directed a female friend to drive them to the area of McCaskill’s house and pull over.

They got out of the car and a gunfight with McCaskill ensured. Hernandez was shot in the arm and two innocent female bystanders were shot in their legs.      The defendants fled and police later arrested them.

The shootings occurred when the mother or Ardrey’s child rejected Ardrey’s sexual advances and told him she was dating McCaskill.