During a bond hearing, new details emerged in the case of the man who is behind bars for attempting to gain entry to a Jewish school in Memphis and then firing shots outside that school.
Joel Bowman discharged a firearm outside the Margolin Hebrew Academy/Feinstone Yeshiva of the South (MHA-FYOS) on July 31, 2023. At the time, security video showed him attempting to enter the locked school before retreating.
He fled the scene in his truck but was tracked down by Memphis Police officers a short while later and shot before being taken into custody. He suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
“I am proud of the vigilant and quick response of MPD officers who mitigated a potential mass shooting situation today,” said Memphis Police Department Chief CJ Davis at the time. “Many thanks to our neighboring jurisdictions for also providing critical information needed to stop the suspect’s action.”
Bowman, 33, who attended the school in his youth, pleaded not guilty on charges of attempted second-degree murder, carrying a weapon on school property, and aggravated burglary. His bond was set at $1 million, a sum that was challenged by his lawyers.
That sum will remain after a ruling by Shelby County Judge James Jones Jr., and according to reports, Bowman (pictured above) wreaked havoc at more than just the school on the day of his arrest.
Josh Kahane was Bowman’s basketball coach at MHA-FYOS and “still has close ties to the school.”
Kahane said that Bowman, who was armed at the time, came looking for him at his home, his business, and at his sister-in-law’s house on the day of the shooting, before he went to the school.
Another man, Brian Roachell, testified that an armed Bowman broke into his home on the same day, also before going to the school.
The Tennessee Star reached out to Bowman’s attorney, Lauren Massey Fuchs, for comment, but did not immediately hear back.
The motive for Bowman’s attempted attack remains unclear, but Fuchs did say that Bowman suffers from a mental health condition that would be more treatable from outside the confines of the Shelby County Jail.
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Pete D’Abrosca is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Pete on Twitter.
