Parolee with violent past captured by police after triple-fatal attack at California bowling alley

Reginald Wallace, 47, was arrested on Sunday after the attack on Friday night

A parolee who was released from jail in 2017 is being held on suspicion of shooting wildly into a mass brawl at a California bowling alley killing three and wounding four others. 

Reginald Wallace, 47, of Los Angeles, was arrested Sunday, Torrance Police Chief Eve Irvine announced on Monday. 

Irvine said two people began fighting at Gable House Bowl in Torrance, a suburb of Los Angeles, on Friday night, where up to 15 people ended up scrapping.

Violence then crescendoed as three shots rang out from Wallace’s handgun, police said.

Family members held a candlelit vigil on Saturday night to grieve the loss of Astin Edwards and Robert ‘Tank’ Meekins, both 28, and 20-year-old Michael Radford.

They had gone out that night to celebrate a birthday.

 

Police officers investigate a shooting at a bowling alley in the Los Angeles suburb of Torrance, California, on Friday night

Police officers investigate a shooting at a bowling alley in the Los Angeles suburb of Torrance, California, on Friday night

Anglean Hubbarb the mother of Robert Meekins, 28, grieves outside the Gable House Bowl center

Anglean Hubbarb the mother of Robert Meekins, 28, grieves outside the Gable House Bowl center

Three others were wounded as people ran from the blood-soaked carnage.

It was unclear whether the gunman knew his victims, Irvine said.

‘I do know that he was shooting into a crowd,’ the chief said. ‘And there was a lot going on. It was complete chaos at this time.

‘People were running all over, there were fights still occurring and when he pulled out the handgun, the minute people started hearing shots, even more chaos erupted.’

Astin Edwards, 28

Michael Radford, 20

Astin Edwards, 28 (left), and Michael Radford, 20 (right) were also identified by family as killed in the shooting

Robert 'Tank' Meekins, 28

Robert 'Tank' Meekins, 28

Robert ‘Tank’ Meekins, 28, (left and right) was identified as one of the fatalities. He was father to a five-year old boy.

He did not reload and was believed to have acted alone, Irvine said.

Wallace was released from prison in 2017 after serving time for assault with a deadly weapon, Irvine said.

Friends and relatives set up flowers and photos at a memorial during the vigil in the bowling alley parking lot on Saturday night.

Dwayne Edwards of Los Angeles said his nephew called him to tell him that his 28-year-old son, Astin Edwards, was among those killed. His nephew told him his son was trying to break up a fight when a gunman ‘just started unloading.’

‘I’m thinking this is a dream and I’ll wake up,’ the 60-year-old Edwards told the Orange County Register. ‘He was a good kid. I don’t understand it.’

Torrance Police Department investigators express their condolences to family members, as officers confirm fatalities after the shooting

Torrance Police Department investigators express their condolences to family members, as officers confirm fatalities after the shooting

Grieving relatives stand outside the Gable House Bowl center as they await news on their family members after three were killed and four injured in the shooting

Grieving relatives stand outside the Gable House Bowl center as they await news on their family members after three were killed and four injured in the shooting

Anglean Hubbard told KABC-TV that her 28-year-old son, Robert Meekins, also died while trying to break up the fight. She said Meekins and Astin Edwards were close.

‘I know he probably jumped in and helped Astin and whoever he was with … but I don’t think my son deserves to die,’ Hubbard said.

Latrice Dumas identified the third victim as her brother, 20-year-old Michael Radford.

‘He was happy. He was always a protector,’ Dumas told the Torrance Daily Breeze newspaper. ‘He was trying to protect others.’

Wallace remained jailed without bail Monday. It was unclear whether he had an attorney.

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk