A teen is facing charges after police said he was behind the gunfire that broke out near a basketball court in Abington Township, Pennsylvania, earlier this week.
Jamell Whitmore, 18, of King of Prussia, has been charged in connection with a shooting following an investigation by the Abington Township Police Department, according to an affidavit of probable cause.
According to police, on Sunday, March 22, 2026, around 8:15 p.m., officers responded to a report of a shooting that had occurred in the parking lot of the McKinley Fire Company, located on Jenkintown Road.
When officers arrived on scene, police said they learned that a basketball game was taking place at Ethel Jordan Park on Cadwalader Avenue, adjacent to the fire company, when gunfire erupted.
The affidavit stated that after the shooting, police examined surveillance footage from nearby businesses. The video recorded a gray Infiniti sedan arriving at the rear of the fire company at approximately 5:02 p.m. An individual, now identified as Whitmore, was seen exiting the vehicle and walking near the basketball court.
An hour later, police said Whitmore was seen getting back into the Infiniti, which was registered to his brother, and leaving the area with another individual to go to an Express Mart.
Police said Whitmore eventually returned to the basketball courts, then left again with a different individual, stopping at the Express Mart and then Trios Pizza.
Around 8:05, police said Whitmore was seen returning to the fire company parking lot in the Infiniti, this time exiting the driver’s seat and holding a pizza box.
Police said a few minutes later, an unknown black SUV slowly passed by the fire company and the basketball court. After the SUV passed, an unidentified individual carrying a brown backpack, worn in front of their body, approached Whitmore and handed him something from inside the bag.
Whitmore and that individual walked towards Cadwalader Avenue before returning to the parking lot.
Then, just a few minutes later, the same black SUV again traveled northbound on Cadwalader Avenue from Jenkintown Road, at a high rate of speed. That’s when police said Whitmore placed the pizza box on the trunk of the Infiniti, took out a handgun from his sweatshirt and fired three shots at the passing SUV.
Following the shooting, police said Whitmore got in the driver’s seat of the Infiniti along with at least four other people, including the person with the brown backpack. They fled southbound on Cadwalader Avenue and turned westbound onto Jenkintown Road.
Police are investigating after gunfire broke out near a basketball court in Abington Township this week. Police said they don’t believe anyone was hit, but the target and motive of the shooting remain a mystery. NBC10’s Deanna Durante reports.
Officers at the scene recovered three fired cartridge casings from the parking lot area.
A home had been struck by one of the projectors, according to police. The round shattered the front glass door and partially penetrated the solid interior door. No one was home at the time of the incident.
NBC10 confirmed that Whitmore was taken into custody and attended a preliminary hearing Friday morning.
Whitmore is charged with discharge of a firearm into an occupied structure, aggravated assault, simple assault, recklessly endangering another person, firearms not to be carried without a license, criminal mischief and disorderly conduct.
Online court records don’t list an attorney who could speak on his behalf.
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