Man Shot, Killed Outside University City Nightclub; Police Questioning Suspect
By Jenn Bernstein
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Police say a shooting outside a nightclub in University City early Tuesday morning claimed the life of a 31-year-old man.
It happened just after 1:30 Tuesday, outside of the Copabanana night club.
Witnesses tell police a dispute inside the bar spilled out onto the street, where police say at least 10 shots were fired.
"Most of these shell casings were within inches and some were within feet of where the victim collapsed, which is an indication that our victim was shot from point blank range," said Chief Inspector Scott Small.
At the time, an AlliedBarton Security Officer was on the corner, heard the shots, and called it in to University of Pennsylvania police.
Within a minute they were on the scene and were able to apprehend the 26-year-old suspect on the 4000 block of Pine as he ran from the scene.
Penn police were also able to recover a weapon.
The 31-year-old victim was unconscious on the sidewalk. Philadelphia Police rushed him to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, but he was pronounced dead on arrival after suffering multiple gunshot wounds.
Police say teamwork between the security officer, Penn, and the Philadelphia Police helped bring the suspect into custody.
"Penn police patrol a 2 ½ square mile area, not just on campus. So, this is a normal patrol zone for us," said the Vice President of Public Safety for Penn, Maureen Rush. "The fact that we had an AlliedBarton security officer almost witnesses this and called it in immediately, that's how the quick apprehension was able to be made, so we are very fortunate."
Police say the victim and the suspect are not tied to the university.