Man sought after shooting near town bar

Last updated: September 11, 2022 - 2:24pm


BLOOMSBURG — Police are looking for a man they say shot someone in the leg after a fight broke out among two men banned from a town bar and a nearby business owner early this morning.

Police are still attempting to sort out what happened, but say two men were threatening to “shoot up” The Capitol after they were turned away Saturday night.

The men — identified by police as Kenneth Bruce Meeker and Manuel Santos — were banned from the bar Friday night and told not to come back, but did anyway, Bloomsburg police officer David Bowman said.

Jarrad Profit, owner of the Up in Smoke Vape Shop nearby, was shot in the knee after attempting to get the two men to “move along” from the sidewalk in front of his store, Bowman said.

Police are now looking for Meeker after surveillance video and the bar’s identification scanner identified him as the shooter.

Police called the shooting an isolated incident and stressed “there is no danger to the public at this time” in a release posted online.

Cop grabs stumbling victim

Bloomsburg Police Chief Scott Price says his officers were just blocks away — observing a large party on Fetterman Avenue — when a call came from the bar reporting two males were threatening to “shoot up” the bar.

Officers David Bowman and Quinton Reinford headed toward the bar around 12:30 a.m. when they heard a gunshot and saw people running away.

Bowman said he and another officer were driving toward the bar when they saw the victim being helped by another person.

“I saw the victim stumbling out into the street and I grabbed him,” Bowman said.

Meeker, 21, and his friend, fled the scene.

Price said Meeker is not a Bloomsburg University student and appears to have come to town to “party with the college kids.”

Bar ID’s shooter

Bystanders and businesses provided video of the shooting, police say.

Police used the bar’s identification card reader data to identify the shooter and Profit later confirmed Meeker was the shooter when shown a photo.

Price said police obtained an arrest warrant for Meeker and are working today to track him down.

Meeker is now charged with a felony count of aggravated assault and misdemeanor counts of  simple assault and reckless endangerment.

Meeker was last seen wearing a black hooded sweatshirt, blue jeans and a green Oakland Athletics cap and Santos — who is not charged — was wearing a black t-shirt and jeans.

A green Oakland Athletics cap was found at the scene along with a spent round and the gun’s magazine, police said.

Bloomsburg Police were assisted on scene by State Police, Hemlock Township, Scott Township, South Centre Township and Bloomsburg University Police Departments.

“This is believed to be an isolated incident and there is no further danger to the public at this time,” police said in a statement released online.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Bloomsburg Police Department, 570-784-4155 or the Columbia County communications center, 570-784-6300.

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