‘A complete absence of reliable and credible evidence’: Windsor man acquitted in bowling alley shooting

A Windsor man has been found not guilty in a drive-by shooting outside of a bowling alley in 2022. CTV Windsor’s Michelle Maluske explains.

Fernando Ratcliffe, now 26 years old, was found not guilty on all charges, including five for attempted murder, late Friday in Superior Court in relation to a Windsor bowling alley shooting.

“I do not know who fired those seven shots into a crowd of people on April 9, 2022,” Justice Bruce Thomas said.

“As a result of not being able to tell exactly what happened, Mr. Ratcliffe is acquitted of all charges.”

The judge said the eyewitness evidence was so inconsistent and the evidence at trial was not reliable even for him to be certain beyond a reasonable doubt about who fired from a moving pickup truck towards the front entrance of a busy east-end bowling alley.

“There is a complete absence of reliable and credible evidence upon which I can find a conviction,” Justice Thomas said.

All five people suffered survivable injuries that night.

Joshua Fryer and Andrew Meloche were also charged with attempted murder by police, but both pleaded guilty to lesser offences and were sentenced to eight months house arrest in 2025.

At trial this week Fryer identified Ratcliffe as the shooter by process of elimination while his brother, Meloche changed his evidence telling Justice Thomas his memory is now a blur because he was “drunk and high” that night.

Defence lawyer Devin Bains says Deputy Crown Attorney Bryan Pillon presented the evidence “fairly and properly” and told the media he “places no blame at the feet of the crown”.

Bains, however, is very critical of how Windsor police handled the investigation at the time and in the intervening years.

“It’s the police who decided that Fernando was the shooter. It’s the police who decided that they would join in an allegiance with people who, in my respectful view, are so clearly likely to be guilty,” Bains alleged Friday.

“That’s a policing mistake. That’s an investigation mistake.”

Bains says police should have seen how Meloche and Fryer acted to protect each other, at the expense of Ratcliffe, because they are half brothers.

“The person who wants to escape the liability that they actually have, the guilt that they actually have, will say whatever it is necessary to get them or their loved ones out of jail and that is not a sin,” Bains said.

“That is a natural human reaction to escape horrible consequences. It’s the police who set that in motion.”

CTV News has reached out to Windsor police to give them an opportunity to respond to Bain’s allegations.

Pillon meantime credited police for their work on the case.

“We would also like to acknowledge the Windsor Police Service for conducting a thorough, professional, and capable investigation under extremely difficult circumstances,” Pillon wrote in a statement.

Pillon said he respects the judge’s decision and has full confidence in the integrity of the criminal justice system in Windsor-Essex.

“This was a deeply troubling and serious event for our community and for those directly impacted,” Pillon wrote.

“The Crown wishes to reassure the public that every available effort was made to pursue justice responsibly and fairly and to hold those responsible to account.”

Meanwhile, Ratcliffe remains behind bars.

Bains says he must first deal with an allegation of breach of bail, likely on Monday.

Ratcliffe was initially given bail in 2022 but was re-arrested just a few months before his trial by Windsor police.

Bains decried the charge by police arguing they could have “shown sense” before laying the charge.