Shooting on Campus (DP)

Colleges & Universities A-Z University of Pennsylvania
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<p>Cop hit by gunfire outside nightclub at 38th and Chestnut streets early Sunday morning
Katie Karas</p>

<p>Police officers detain a suspect outside Koko Bongo on 38th and Chestnut streets after a civilian was shot and an officer wounded early Sunday morning.</p>

<p>Costumed students returning home from a string of Halloween parties early Sunday morning were greeted by the sound of a flurry of gunshots, the result of a fight at 38th and Chestnut streets that left one man dead and two others injured.</p>

<p>Lamar Bembry, a 21-year-old resident of the 5400 block of Race Street, was shot and killed by police during a gunfight outside of Koko Bongo nightclub, located just off the edge of campus, Philadelphia Police Homicide Sgt. Charles Coan said.</p>

<p>Philadelphia Police officer Sandra Van Hinkel and another bystander were struck by bullets during the melee, in which dozens of shots were fired.</p>

<p>Van Hinkel was hit in the right leg by a bullet. She was treated at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and released shortly thereafter.</p>

<p>The other victim, a 34-year-old man who was sitting in his car in traffic on 38th Street, was struck by stray bullets in the face and shoulder. Police declined to release his name because he is a potential witness.</p>

<p>He is in stable condition at HUP.</p>

<p>Bembrey was shot by police once in the chest after brandishing a gun and firing it into the crowd while leaving the club. He was pronounced dead at the scene.</p>

<p>The incident took place as police were trying to disperse the crowd of 200 to 300 people leaving the club at about 2:00 a.m. Coan said there were no reports of an argument or fight inside the club before the shooting began.</p>

<p>"There was really no altercation," he said. "Basically, the police were moving the crowd, trying to get the traffic flowing, when one male produced a gun and started firing in the direction of the police."</p>

<p>Police were already patrolling outside of the nightclub because there had been previous incidents at that location. They returned fire when the shooting began.</p>

<p>Several clubgoers were visibly shaken following the shooting, and some argued with police officers about the police's role in the incident.</p>

<p>FULL STORY :<a href="http://media.www.dailypennsylvanian.com/media/storage/paper882/news/2007/10/29/News/One-Dead.Two.Injured.In.Shooting-3062500.shtml%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://media.www.dailypennsylvanian.com/media/storage/paper882/news/2007/10/29/News/One-Dead.Two.Injured.In.Shooting-3062500.shtml&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

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<p>Correction: Technically this is 1 block off-campus.</p>

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<p>This was quite a gunfight - other news stories say that the investigators recovered 30 bullet casings from a least 4 different guns (plus police shooting back) and chances are a substantial portion of the crowd was armed. There was apparently some kind of “urban” event at the club that night that attracted a “gangsta” type crowd. </p>

<p>While this occurred at the edge of campus, a Penn student could have easily wounded as someone driving by in a car on 38th St. was hit in the crossfire (but survived). Bullets can travel for hundreds of yards unless they hit something first. </p>

<p>The editorial in today’s DP about increasing the Penn Transit ride schedule to 5 PM to 6PM (using the shooting as explicit justification) is idiotic - the shooting occurred at 2AM and in any event the buses aren’t bullet proof, so one has nothing to do with the other.</p>

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<p>It was a costume party I believe. And yes, there were dozens of shots fired. And considering how it happened and how big a crowd there was, I think we’re lucky that so few people were injured.</p>

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<p>hahaha</p>

<p>what a dumb school</p>

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<p>way to steal my thread, noob.</p>

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<p>im really familiar with this corner. There is a Cheesesteak place (abner’s), a strip club (wizards), a chilis, and this “urban” r&b nightclub. The nightclub was a bar (brownies) catered towards students until it switched ownership last year. I can imagine it is a pretty tough crowd at 2am. Even though this corner is extremely close to campus, it is a more typical “west philly crowd” at 2am then a penn crowd. Its important to be aware of your surroundings, but I would not be overly concerned as a penn student.</p>

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<p>i ate dinner at chili’s with friends a few hours prior to the shooting.</p>

<p>kinda scary…</p>

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<p>but I would not be overly concerned as a penn student.</p>

<p>Yeah, because Penn students have a magic force field around them that makes them bulletproof. West Philadelphians lack this force field and the bullets are actually attracted to their vital organs, which is why so many of them turn up dead in the newspaper.</p>

<p>Or maybe not, in which case maybe you should stay away from 38th & Chestnut late at night on nights when the Bongo club is having an “event”. Apparently the police knew it would be an “event” and there were 10 cops pre-posted. If you see 10 cops and a bunch of cop cars around a building, maybe this should be a hint that you should go elsewhere - the food at Chilis is really not that good anyway - this is what being aware of your surroundings means.</p>