NORRISTOWN, Pa. (KYW Newsradio) — Jamel Barnwell was three months shy of his 18th birthday when he opened fire in a Montgomery County bowling alley last year. Now, he will spend 25 to 50 years in state prison.
Barnwell fired 15 shots inside Our Town Bowling Alley in East Norriton, near the intersection of Germantown Pike and Swede Road, in February 2021. He was sentenced on Wednesday to at least 25 years.
There were 50 to 75 people inside the bowling alley, including young children, when Barnwell opened fire. Five people were struck, including 29-year-old Frank Wade, who later died.
Barnwell pleaded guilty to third-degree murder and one count of aggravated assault.
“This was a senseless, vicious act of violence carried out in a public bowling alley with hundreds of people present there that evening,” said prosecutor Tanner Beck. “The videos and the 911 calls, it’s just, it’s terrifying. I can’t imagine what they went through, in addition to the victims that were actually shot in this case.”
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Thomas Egan, Barnwell’s lawyer, said his client has always expressed what he did was wrong.
“The real tragedy of this is the young men with guns these days, they all feel like they need to carry guns. In the old days, this would have been settled with a fistfight because that’s how this began,” he said.
“[Barnwell] always regretted carrying a firearm here because he’s made it very clear to me that if he didn’t have the firearm, the worst that would happen was the two groups would have gotten in a fight.”
During the hearing, the victim’s grandmother, Gladys Wade, told Barnwell she won’t forget but she will forgive him.
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