NEARBY: Homicide Charges Filed After Man Dies From Strip Club Shooting

December 11, 2024

A Morrisville Borough police SUV. File photo.

A New Jersey man accused in the fatal shooting of a bystander at a Lower Bucks County strip club has been charged with homicide after the victim died from his injuries, the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office said Wednesday.

Pedro E. Rodriguez, 28, of Trenton, faces charges of criminal homicide, two counts each of aggravated assault and simple assault, one count each of discharging a firearm into an occupied structure, possession of an instrument of crime, and 17 counts of recklessly endangering another person.

Pedro E. Rodriguez Credit: Bucks County District Attorney’s Office

Rodriguez has been detained at Bucks County Correctional Facility since his arrest on Aug. 29 for charges related to the shooting.

Police were called to the The Border Gentlemen’s Club on South Pennsylvania Avenue in Morrisville Borough around 1:14 a.m. for a reported shooting.

Once at the scene, officers discovered 28-year-old Mekhi Norman with gunshot wounds to the back of the head, left thigh, and torso, police said.

Norman, who was critically injured, was transported to a Trenton hospital where he succumbed to his injuries on Sept. 6, authorities said.

The Middlesex County Medical Examiner’s Office conducted an autopsy and found that Norman died of complications from multiple gunshot injuries. His death was ruled a homicide, authorities said.

According to investigators, Norman was an innocent bystander attempting to help the club’s staff during an altercation at the doorway when he was shot. He was reportedly unacquainted with the shooter.

The strip club hours after the shooting. Credit: Jamie DeNova

At the time of the shooting, the club had 17 patrons and employees.

Rodriguez and another individual, identified as Kevin Perez, 21, also of Trenton, fled the scene in an SUV heading north on Route 1.

Perez has been charged with five counts each of simple assault, disorderly conduct, and harassment for his role in the assault on the club’s staff prior to the gunfire.

Rodriguez is scheduled for a preliminary arraignment on the new charges on Friday.

Editor’s Note: All individuals arrested or charged with a crime are presumed innocent until proven guilty. The story was compiled using information from police and public court documents.