Man gets life without parole for killing 3 in Torrance bowling alley shooting

A Los Angeles man who opened fire on gang rivals in a crowded bowling alley in Torrance, killing three people and wounding four others, was sentenced Friday, Sept. 30, to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Reginald Leander Wallace, 51, was convicted by jury in June for the murders of Michael Di’Shawn Radford, 20, Astin Kyle Edwards, 28, and Robert Earl Meekins Jr., 28, after jurors deliberated for about two hours.

The three men were described by family members as trying to break up a fight that involved two groups of people inside Torrance’s Gable House Bowl just before midnight, Jan. 4, 2019.

Edwards and Meekins were best friends, their family members said. Meekins and Radford were fathers.

Of the four wounded, two were hospitalized, while the other two sought medical attention on their own.

Prosecutors relied heavily on cell phone and surveillance video inside the crowded bowling alley to make their case. A cell phone video captured from the north side of the bowling alley showed the brawl going back and forth near the front counter and an arcade that splits lanes on both sides.

Wallace, with his back turned to the cell phone, was seen walking toward one of the front entrances. As the brawl came closer to the north lanes, Wallace grabbed a handgun from his right pocket, took two steps forward, extended his right arm toward the crowd and shot 11 times before pocketing the weapon and casually walking outside.

As he fired, he held a styrofoam cup with brandy in his left hand. Torrance police later found that cup in a planter area in front of a nearby 7-Eleven. Wallace was eventually picked up by the same group of friends that took him to the bowling alley, but went back to the area hours later to look for a cell phone he had dropped, he testified.

Wallace, who had previous convictions for murder as a minor, possessing a firearm in a school zone and assault with a deadly weapon, took the stand and claimed he was in fear for his life after he saw Edwards reach into his pocket during the brawl.

Though police found a gun in Edwards’ right pants pocket, surveillance video of the melee did not show him reaching for his pocket.

Wallace, a self-described gang “associate,” said he went to the bowling alley with friends to celebrate one of their birthdays.

He admitted during questioning by prosecutors that he knew ahead of the fight that rival gang members were in the bowling alley.

Wallace also told a fellow inmate in a recorded jailhouse conversation that he positioned himself directly under a surveillance camera before the shooting thinking he wouldn’t be seen.

The fight started between two groups of women near a food pickup area and soon grew to include about 15 men, officials have said. What started the fight was never discussed during trial.

Wallace was arrested two days after the shooting in Koreatown and has remained behind bars since. He’s spent most of his adult life in prison.

Gable House Bowl has been a popular South Bay hangout for more than 50 years, but that run appears to be coming to an end after the city’s planning commission in August approved its demolition to make way for a mixed-use residential and retail development with 218 units.

The groundbreaking was scheduled for sometime in the middle of next year and the new development, which will keep the name Gable House, was anticipated to open in mid-2025.