Man gets 20-40 years for Elks Club shooting

STAFF REPORT

NEW CASTLE, Pa. — A Philadelphia man was sentenced to 20 to 40 years in prison for a shooting at the Elks Club on Home Street.

Judge J. Craig Cox of Lawrence County Common Pleas Court sentenced Willie Claren Harden Jr., 21, on Thursday.

Harden shot three people during a private party at the club late on the night of March 14.

He was convicted at a jury trial in December of attempted homicide, aggravated assault, reckless endangering, simple assault and discharging a firearm into an occupied structure.

The shooting happened after one of the victims argued with Harden’s friend.

Harden shot him several times, including after he’d fallen to the floor.

He shot another man who jumped in to help stop a fight that broke out during the argument, seriously injuring him. He shot a bystander, a woman who was sitting at the bar, in the knee.