by Alex Lloyd Gross
Mar 6, 2023
Joshua Cooper, the 16 year old defendant in a trailer park shooting in Bensalem, late November had his preliminary hearing today. This was held before District Justice Michael Gallagher. in Bensalem Township. Cooper was in the Bensalem courtroom in shackles. His lawyer, Paul Lang was by his side. That did not matter as Bensalem Police took the stand to testify against Cooper.
The 1:30 PM preliminary started a few minutes late. By the time Detective Ryan Kolb was describing the crime scene inside and testifying about blood splatter, bullet holes and steps made to clean up the crime scene, Cooper had enough. Through his attorney, he requested a bucket , presumably to get sick in and a five minute break. When that five minutes started to stretch past 15 minutes, Judge Gallagher got a constable to bring Cooper back into the courtroom.
He was waving the hearing and his case would be moved to Doylestown for trial at a later date. “This case “is a complicated one that involved a juvenile and his best friend,” Lang said after his client was escorted out of courtroom in shackles. He is going back to prison. Inside the rear of the constable van, Cooper could only take in the scenery of what could very well be the last trip to Bensalem for his life. Even though he is a juvenile, he is being charged as an adult.