Little known about stabbing suspect

Andre Shaw is accused of stabbing a University employee outside Wawa. As Andre Shaw, 41, begins his fourth day in prison, details surrounding the identity of the man who was recently arrested for allegedly stabbing a University groundskeeper three weeks ago at 38th and Spruce streets remain largely a mystery. Shaw was arrested Friday for the bloody stabbing of University Facilities Services hard surfaces employee Broderick Barnville, 31, at about 7:15 a.m. February 27. According to police and witnesses, Barnville was escorting Shaw out of the Wawa convenience store at the busy campus intersection after Shaw allegedly attempted to steal a pack of cigarettes. Shaw then allegedly pulled out a pocketknife and stabbed Barnville near the underarm, slashing a major artery. It took three weeks for University Police -- who had obtained a clear picture of the incident from a Wawa surveillance videotape but could not identify the suspect -- to arrest Shaw. Police had previously arrested and released several suspects. Philadelphia criminal records show Shaw's arrest as being his first as an adult. University Police Det. Frank DeMeo said this means Shaw has never been arrested for a major crime. But if Shaw had been charged with a minor crime such as shoplifting or another misdemeanor, DeMeo said, it would not be on his record. And while police reports list Shaw's last known residence as 1303 Pine Street, no building exists at that address, which houses a parking lot. The address is in an eclectic neighborhood near the University of the Arts. DeMeo explained that it is not uncommon for a suspect to give police a false address, especially if the address was one of the suspect's "haunts." Police originally believed that the suspect responsible for stabbing Barnville was homeless and possibly mentally ill. They later confirmed that Shaw was a "semi-regular" at the Wawa, according to Det. Commander Tom King, but King said Sunday that he no longer believed Barnville to be homeless. "A lot of people straddle the line between homeless and not," DeMeo explained yesterday. Shaw, who needs to post $810 of his $8,000 bail before he can be released from a city jail, will have a hearing this Thursday to decide whether his charge of aggravated assault will be held for court at the Philadelphia Police 19th District's municipal courthouse at 61st and Thompson streets.