House arrest for stepbrothers at Windsor bowling alley mass shooting

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Saying the punishment was for the crime they committed, and not for the mass shooting that left five people injured outside a Windsor bowling alley three years ago, a judge on Friday sentenced two stepbrothers to house arrest.

Superior Court Justice Joseph Perfetto handed eight-month conditional sentences to Andrew Meloche, 24 and Joshua Fryer, 22.

Originally charged with five counts each of attempted murder, both Essex County men pleaded guilty in March to a single count each of occupying a motor vehicle knowing that inside the vehicle was a restricted weapon, namely a 9mm handgun.

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Fryer was the driver and Meloche a passenger when another occupant is alleged to have pointed the weapon out a window in front of crowded Super Bowl Lanes shortly after 1 a.m. on April 9, 2022, and begun firing. The incident occurred following an altercation inside the east Windsor business between two groups that resulted in the manager clearing out the building.

The alleged shooter, who cannot be identified due to a court-ordered publication ban, faces a jury trial next year on the five counts of attempted murder.

Perfetto said the sentences handed out Friday were for “the offence pled to” and not for the alleged shootings or “the conduct of others.”

As the driver, Fryer, who was 19 at the time, “could have chosen to stop the vehicle — he did not do so,” the judge said. While that was an aggravating factor for him, the judge pointed to Meloche’s “recent and related” prior criminal record to hand out similar sentences to both.

Fryer had spent 30 days in pre-sentence custody, while Meloche, who was 21 at the time of the shootings, remained 45 days in custody before being granted bail. The judge noted both “youthful offenders” then spent close to three years on “strict” bail conditions.

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When it comes to firearms, Justice Perfetto said the “inherent danger and harm is well-documented” and that the courts must send a message to others of denunciation and deterrence.

Following their conditional sentences, both men will be on probation for 18 months. Both were ordered to submit blood samples for a DNA databank used by police to help solve crimes. Fryer was given a 10-year weapons ban, while Meloche, who had been under a previous ban, is now barred for life from owning any weapons.

In wishing both young men good luck, Perfetto told Fryer not to let this offence “define who you are going forward.” The judge told Meloche that, in determining a just penalty, he put “a lot of emphasis” on their family support — “I hope you do, too.”

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