1 man charged, another dead in Marshall-Shadeland bar shooting
A Swissvale man, still hospitalized Wednesday with at least one gunshot wound to his chest, is charged in a fatal shooting outside a North Side bar.
Akil Raheem Tennyson, 31, was thrown out of the 703 Social Club in Pittsburgh’s Marshall-Shadeland neighborhood at about 2 a.m. Saturday because he was fighting with another man, according to a criminal complaint.
Shortly after leaving the Brighton Road establishment, Tennyson returned to the street outside the bar and opened fire, shooting at Warren Thompson, another bar patron, at least 15 times, police say.
As Tennyson fled down Brighton Road, a witness fired a shot in Tennyson’s direction, according to the complaint.
Police and first responders found Thompson, 40, of Pittsburgh, at about 2:10 a.m. He died at UPMC Mercy hospital about 25 minutes later.
Multiple gunshot wounds killed Thompson, the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office said Wednesday. They ruled his death a homicide.
Pittsburgh police said Thompson and three others, including Tennyson, were wounded in the shooting.
The other victims took themselves to local hospitals for apparent gunshot wounds, the complaint said. Both were listed last weekend in stable condition.
Pittsburgh police charged Tennyson on Saturday with criminal homicide, two counts each of aggravated assault and recklessly endangering another person, and firearms charges, court records show.
He had not been arraigned or given a date for a preliminary hearing as of Wednesday afternoon.
Pittsburgh police said Tennyson is not allowed to have a gun because he pleaded guilty to two felony counts of drug possession with intent to deliver in 2016. He was sentenced to up to 23 months in prison and three years of probation on those charges, court records show.
ShotSpotter microphones picked up at least 15 gunshots in or near the 3100 block of Brighton Road at the time of the shooting, police spokeswoman Emily Bourne said Wednesday.
When asked about the frequency of shootings near the bar, Bourne said 703 Social Club “is very proactive with security measures.”
“They hire private security and are highly cooperative with police,” she said.
Justin Vellucci is a TribLive reporter covering crime and public safety in Pittsburgh and Allegheny County. A longtime freelance journalist and former reporter for the Asbury Park (N.J.) Press, he worked as a general assignment reporter at the Trib from 2006 to 2009 and returned in 2022. He can be reached at jvellucci@triblive.com.
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