Prosecutor: Kettering bowling alley shooting suspect should be in adult court

Prosecutors filed a motion Thursday for a 17-year-old boy accused of shooting and wounding two people earlier this month inside Poelking Woodman Lanes in Kettering to face trial in adult court.

Police were called around 12:05 a.m. April 16 to a shooting at the bowling alley at 3200 Woodman Drive.

Investigation revealed that the teen suspect from Dayton got into an argument with another person. The argument led to a fistfight, during which the teen pulled out a gun and fired it, striking two victims, according to the Montgomery County Prosecutor’s Office.

The teen was identified as the shooter through witness statements and surveillance video from inside the business.

The two gunshot victims, a 17-year-old boy and 18-year-old man, were treated and released from local hospitals, Kettering police said.

Prosecutor Mat Heck Jr. announced that in addition to filing a motion to transfer the case, the complaint was amended to charge the teen with four counts of felonious assault, which all carry three-year firearm specifications; and one count each of carrying concealed weapons and possession of a firearm in a liquor establishment.

“Once again, a 17-year-old has a gun and fires it in complete disregard for the safety of others,” Heck stated. “This defendant should not even have a firearm, and certainly should not have discharged it in a crowded bowling alley. Juveniles cannot be permitted to use firearms to solve their petty disputes, and when they do, they will be held accountable.”

The teen remains in custody at the Montgomery County Juvenile Justice Center.

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