A Philadelphia man was arrested Friday in connection with the shooting in late spring outside of the Oxford Valley Mall.
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Shannon James Lewis, 31, appeared via video before District Judge Charles Jonas around 11 a.m. Friday and was preliminarily arraigned on charges of aggravated assault, firearms not to be carried without a license, terroristic threats, possession of an instrument of crime, a weapons offenses, and three counts of reckless endangerment. He was held on 10 percent of $750,000 bail.
Middletown Township police were called to the SEPTA bus stop outside the mall’s JCPenney store around 5 p.m. Thursday, June 19, for a reported shooting. They found a wounded man who had gone inside the mall after being shot in the left forearm at the bus stop nearby, according to court papers.
The wounded man told police he was waiting for a bus when an unknown man approached and asked if he was from Trenton. The victim said he would not share that information, and the suspect then pulled a revolver and shot him, police said.
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A witness told police she saw the suspect walk over to a bookbag, grab a revolver and shoot the victim, police said.
A second witness told police she saw the suspect confront the victim at the bus stop. She said the victim asked, “you really pulling the heater out?” before the suspect fired the gun and ran away, police said.
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Security camera footage from the mall confirmed the witness statements and showed the suspect fleeing toward Woodbourne Road, police said.
Phone data showed Lewis in the area of the Oxford Valley Mall around 4 p.m. the day of the shooting and his phone stopped sending data at 5:23 p.m. in the area of the Woodbourne Train Station. The phone again began recording data around 11 p.m. in the area of Lewis’ Philadelphia apartment, according to police.
Authorities said Lewis picked up a SEPTA bus in Falls Township, and it arrived at the mall around 4 p.m. Lewis then talked on his cell phone until minutes before the shooting.
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Investigators identified Lewis as the suspect using mall security camera footage, witness statements, his SEPTA payment card, and phone and Snapchat data.
Chief of Police Joseph Bartorilla said Lewis was arrested Friday morning at his apartment by detectives from the Middletown Township Police Department, the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office and the Philadelphia Police Department.
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Investigators recovered the revolver believed to have been used in the shooting, which was previously reported stolen in Bucks County, the chief said.
While a search warrant of Lewis’ apartment was being executed, investigators recovered the clothing the shooter was seen wearing, Bartorilla said.
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The shooting caused a panic at the mall, and guests at the nearby Sesame Place theme park were held in place while the scene was secured.
Authorities did not release a motive for the shooting.
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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.
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