Local Shootings | Violence at 'bad' bars not a surprise

Two shootings at two night clubs on the corner of 38th and Chestnut streets in the past month shouldn't come as a surprise, experts say.

Problem bars and night clubs tend to cluster together and night clubs that attract a dangerous clientele are recipes for incidents like the shooting that occurred at Club Wizzards Monday morning.

That shooting left a disc jockey critically wounded and one suspect dead after he allegedly pointed a gun at two Penn police officers.

The other incident at adjacent Koko Bongo on Oct. 28 left one police officer wounded and the suspect dead.

"There are good bars and bad bars," said Temple University criminologist George Rengert.

The "bad bars," Rengert added, tend to concentrate in certain places, as studies have shown that the overwhelming number of incidents that require a police response tend to happen in specific bars.

According to Vice President for Public Safety Maureen Rush, there have been few past incidents at Wizzards, but Koko Bongo and other local night clubs have experienced ongoing problems with crime.

At a Monday press conference, Rush praised the city for temporarily shutting down Wizzards because of the shooting.

But there may not be much the city or Penn can do to permanently remove clubs like Wizzards and Koko Bongo from the area.

The Department of Licenses and Inspections can close an establishment by declaring it a "public nuisance," and the state Liquor Control Board can revoke a club's liquor license - essentially forcing it to close.

But Gerard Donati, the local head of the state police's Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement, said that it may be difficult to tie a club to a major crime like a shooting,

Donati declined to comment specifically on this case because it was still under investigation, though police say that the suspects tied to the Wizzards shooting had been drinking before they entered the club that morning.

And while Temple criminology professor Jennifer Wood said it's impossible to totally eliminate violence in clubs, establishments can work to head off fights before they end in a fatal shooting.

"It's important to see how pubs manage the serving of alcohol," she explained, adding that bouncers and security play a crucial role in heading off confrontations.

According to Philadelphia Police, Wizzards did not search patrons for weapons as they entered, and Rush said that she did not think that the club employed bouncers that night.

Steven Paik, the owner of Wizzards, could not be reached for comment, and employees at the establishment Tuesday declined to comment.

A message left on Koko Bongo's answering machine was not returned.

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