A Penn Police officer shot and killed a man accused of shooting a disc jockey early yesterday morning inside a strip club at 38th and Chestnut streets, leading to its closure.
It was the second shooting at the intersection in the past month: Larry Bembry, a West Philadelphia resident, was killed by Philadelphia Police on Oct. 28 in a gun battle outside the Koko Bongo nightclub, located across the street.
In yesterday's incident, five men allegedly started a fight inside Club Wizzards at about 12:10 a.m., Philadelphia Police Lt. Frank Vanore said, adding that the altercation may have involved a dancer at the club.
The club's disc jockey attempted to break up the fight but was assaulted by the men, Vanore said.
Several of the men then left Wizzards, and at least one of them, Larry Sanders, 31, of the 500 block of N. 54th St., allegedly returned with a gun and shot the DJ twice.
Witnesses notified two Penn Police officers who were in a nearby 7-Eleven, and upon entering the bar, Sanders allegedly pointed the gun at them, Vice President for Public Safety Maureen Rush said at a press conference yesterday.
Both officers identified themselves as police and warned Sanders to drop his gun before one of the officers shot him twice, Rush said. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Two men believed to have been involved with the incident were taken into custody by police as they attempted to flee in their vehicles, Rush said.
Neither was found with a gun in his possession, but they could face charges in connection with the shooting, which is being investigated by the Philadelphia Police Homicide Division.
As of last night, the DJ remained in critical condition at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. Police had not yet released the names of the DJ or the two men in custody.
The city's Department of Licenses and Inspections also issued a Cease to Operate order against the club yesterday, calling it a "public nuisance" and citing it for fire and electrical violations.
The club will remain closed until a hearing determines otherwise.
DPS is investigating the use of deadly force by its officer.
Rush praised the officers' work and said in an interview that "no doubt there would have been other" victims if police had not intervened.
Rush also criticized the management of Club Wizzards and Koko Bongo, saying she did not believe that Wizzards employed any security measures.
"We're very gratified to hear that" L&I; had closed Wizzards down, Rush said, adding that "we want to see more" from both Wizzards and Koko Bongo, and that the clientele these establishments bring to the area makes for a more dangerous environment.
"These kinds of things catch up with these kinds of places," she said.
The owner of Koko Bongo, Theodore Pagano, is also landlord of the building in which Wizzards is located, and Rush added that though Wizzards had been relatively incident-free since it opened in the 1980s, Koko Bongo has caused problems for the neighborhood.
Pagano did not return a call left on a Koko Bongo answering machine yesterday.
The owner of Club Wizzards also could not be reached for comment.
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