Philadelphia man headed to prison for Cheltenham shooting incident

Kasheem Thompson pleaded guilty to attempted murder for the gun violence

NORRISTOWN >> A Philadelphia man will spend at least six years in prison on an attempted murder charge in connection with a Cheltenham Township shooting incident.

Kasheem Thompson, 18, of the 2300 block of 74th Street, was sentenced in Montgomery County Court to 6 to 12 years in a state correctional facility after he pleaded guilty to charges of attempted murder, firearms not to be carried without a license and receiving stolen property in connection with the April 16, 2022, gun violence that erupted in the 8200 block of Ogontz Avenue in the township.

Judge Risa Vetri Ferman imposed the sentence as part of a plea agreement. Thompson will receive credit for time he’s been in jail since May.

An investigation began on April 16 when Cheltenham police responded to reports of shots fired in the area of Ogontz Avenue and Shopper’s Lane.

Police determined through witnesses and camera surveillance footage from numerous locations that two vehicles, a white Jeep Compass and a black Ford Taurus were traveling northbound on Ogontz Avenue side by side at the time the gunshots rang out, according to the criminal complaint filed by Cheltenham detectives.

Specifically, detectives determined a person in the Ford Taurus, later identified as Thompson, began firing at persons in the Jeep vehicle.

“Police believe that at least eight rounds were fired at the Jeep. A passenger in the Jeep was struck by one of the rounds. The round appeared to ricochet off the phone which was on his person and became embedded in the subject’s leg,” detectives alleged in the criminal complaint.

The victim was dropped off at the front door of a grocery store and an ambulance was summoned. The wounded man was transported to Abington Hospital for emergency treatment of a non-life-threatening wound, according to detectives.

Detectives recovered six 9mm bullet casings from Ogontz Avenue.

When investigators examined the Jeep vehicle they found there were at least eight rounds that struck the vehicle.

“Any one of these rounds could have been fatal to the driver or passenger,” detectives wrote in the arrest affidavit, alleging the number of rounds showed that the intent of the shooter was to cause death or serious bodily injury to the occupants of the Jeep.

Detectives said the rounds also could have caused death or serious bodily injury to passersby.

The investigation eventually led detectives to three individuals, two adults and one juvenile, who told detectives they were passengers in the Ford Taurus and that the driver, subsequently identified as Thompson, fired multiple rounds at the victims’ Jeep, according to the criminal complaint.

A total of four firearms were recovered during the investigation, court papers indicate. The two adult passengers in the Taurus, who were under 21, also were charged with weapons offenses after they admitted to possessing firearms at the time of the incident. Detectives noted that the 18-year-old Thompson could not legally purchase, own or possess a handgun and that he did not have a sportsman’s license or a permit to carry a concealed firearm.

Other charges of aggravated assault, simple assault, recklessly endangering another person and terroristic threats were dismissed against Thompson as part of the plea agreement.