Teen sought in shooting at bowling alley turns self in

1 killed, 4 wounded in incident Saturday in Montgomery County

PHILADELPHIA — A 17-year-old boy sought in connection with a Montgomery County bowling alley shooting that left one person dead and four injured has turned himself in, authorities said Monday.

Jamel Barnwell of Upper Darby faces numerous counts, including murder, attempted murder and aggravated assault, stemming from the shooting Saturday night in East Norriton, about 45 miles south of Allentown. He turned himself in around 11 p.m. Sunday.

The shooting at Our Town Alley occurred shortly after 6:30 p.m. Authorities said the teen and two other males entered the bowling alley and three minutes later there was a physical altercation between them and the victims.

Authorities said the teen pulled a firearm with an extended magazine from his jacket and began shooting. The three suspects then fled, leaving behind three cell phones, one of which belonged to the suspect.

The Montgomery County prosecutor’s office said Frank Wade, 29, of Philadelphia was found dead in the entrance to the bowling alley. An autopsy Sunday concluded that he died of multiple gunshot wounds and his death was ruled a homicide.

Four relatives of Wade — ages 19, 21, 26 and 31 — were found wounded. They all remained hospitalized Monday and were expected to recover from their wounds.

A motive for the shooting remains under investigation.

Wade’s wife told police she didn’t know the gunman or why he opened fire, court records show. She said she heard a commotion and then gunshots. She said the shooter fired until all of his rounds were spent, police say.

There were about 50-75 people in the bowling alley at the time of the shooting, including several young children.

Investigators examined surveillance footage from inside the bowling alley at the time of the shooting. In it, police say three men, identified in records as suspects No. 1, 2 and 3, enter the business at 6:39 p.m. The man described initially as Suspect 3, who police later identify as Barnwell, hands his cellphone to Suspect 1 and that man can be seen tucking the phone and another into the front pocket of his hooded sweatshirt, records say.

At 6:42 p.m., a fight breaks out between the men and the shooting victims, records say and Barnwell pulls a gun from his gray jacket. He fires several rounds, during which Suspect 1 dives to the ground, records say. When he stands up to flee with the others, footage shows he’s left both of the phones behind, according to police.

Barnwell shot Wade multiple times, police say. Even as Wade tried to crawl to safety, police say video footage shows the 17-year-old continued to fire at him until he stopped moving.

Police collected three cellphones from the scene and were able to identify Barnwell from one of them after securing a search warrant for the device.