Judge Orders Shutdown of Speakeasy Where Off-Duty Officer Alhassane Barry Was Killed

A Philadelphia judge on Wednesday granted the District Attorney’s Office an injunction shutting down the after-hours lounge where off-duty Police Officer Alhassane Barry was shot and killed last month.

Common Pleas Court issued the order Sept. 2 against the operator of Nipsey’s Hookah Lounge, the speakeasy near 73rd Street and Elmwood Avenue in Southwest Philadelphia, according to NBC10 Philadelphia.

“Today’s Common Pleas Court ruling effectively shuts down this illegal speakeasy, which has been a nuisance in the Southwest Philadelphia community and was the site of a fatal shooting that claimed the life of off-duty Philadelphia Police Officer Alhassane Barry,” District Attorney Larry Krasner said. “While the Philadelphia Police Department’s investigation remains ongoing and we await their recommendation, what we do know is that this establishment — and others like it — operated outside the law and was a problem waiting to happen.”

Barry, 29, was shot and killed early Sunday, Aug. 16. Officials said he and another man were shot multiple times by a third man. Barry was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead. The second man was treated at a nearby hospital.

Surveillance video obtained by NBC10 showed a marked Philadelphia police vehicle in the area around 3:30 a.m. About 10 seconds later, someone is seen leaving the lounge before a fight breaks out. Shots are then fired, and people run from the area.

At an Aug. 27 news conference, Krasner said prosecutors believe the shooter has been identified and has given authorities “his version” of what happened through his lawyer. Some of those details, Krasner said, still need more investigation.

“The shooter does not dispute that he had the gun, which he provided through his counsel. He does not dispute that he fired the gun,” Krasner said.

The man who shot Barry has not been charged. Police said they recovered a gun and were reviewing surveillance video. It was not clear whose gun investigators recovered. Krasner said there are multiple videos and that investigators expect to know more within two months. Asked whether the case could be self-defense, he said that is one of the issues under consideration.

Krasner also said Barry’s death may not be the only fatality tied to the lounge. He said a young woman was struck and killed by a hit-and-run driver near the establishment weeks earlier, and that he believes she was heading to the after-hours club.

“The street itself, to the best of my knowledge, only had one open business, and that would be this illegal business,” Krasner said. “So, there is reason to infer she was crossing to go to this place when she was struck by a hit-and-run driver.”

The shooter has not been named publicly and has not been convicted of a crime.

Source: NBC10 Philadelphia.