PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A city judge has ordered the lounge near where an off-duty Philadelphia police officer was shot and killed last month to be shut down for a year.
The property along Elmwood Avenue near 73rd Street, owned by Tran Yen, had violations for fire hazards in the past and was not licensed to operate as a bar or hookah lounge, but it ran a speakeasy known as “Nipsey’s Hookah Lounge” when 29-year-old Officer Alhassane Barry was shot and killed on Aug. 16.
Investigators said it started as a fight inside the lounge and spilled out onto the sidewalk, where the shots were fired. A 35-year-old man involved in the altercation was also shot and seriously wounded.
The District Attorney’s office filed for an injunction in hopes of shutting down the property permanently, but Judge Christopher Hall ordered the temporary closure.
The investigation into Barry’s death is ongoing. The suspect police were looking for did turn himself in and spoke with authorities, but charges have not yet been filed.
