Investigators are in possession of a gun they believe was used in the killing of an off-duty Philadelphia police officer in Southwest Philadelphia and are interviewing the suspect accused of firing the fatal shots, authorities said.
District Attorney Larry Krasner offered those details Thursday as he gave updates on the investigation into the death of the officer, 29-year-old Alhassane Barry, outside an unlicensed speakeasy in the early morning hours of Aug 16.
Surveillance video shows Barry, a two-year veteran of the force, and the shooting suspect exchange words outside the after-hours hookah bar just before 4 a.m. before a third man punches the suspect.
The altercation then spills off-camera, resuming when Barry staggers back into frame bleeding from gunshot wounds to his abdomen. Another person, a 35-year-old man, was also injured in the gunfire and is recovering in the hospital.
Krasner said during a news conference that investigators have identified the shooting suspect and that prosecutors are actively speaking with the man and his attorney to learn more about the nature of his role in the deadly incident.
But no charges have been filed, and the district attorney said it could take up to two months for investigators to complete their review and determine what charges would be necessary.
Part of that process includes medical testing and further interviews with witnesses, Krasner said. Investigators also recovered footage of the shooting from multiple camera angles, though a sign blocks a camera angle depicting the moments immediately before shots were fired, complicating the review, according to the district attorney.
The updates came after two law enforcement sources told The Inquirer that self-defense had become part of the discussion about whether charges would be appropriate.
Asked whether the shooting suspect told investigators he had acted in self-defense, Krasner declined to comment. But he said self-defense is “one of the issues under consideration” by investigators.
The shooter “does not dispute that he had a gun” or “that he fired,” Krasner said.
Rather, the man’s version of events “requires additional investigation,” he said.
Prosecutors are also working with police to authenticate whether a firearm handed over by the shooting suspect during discussions is the same gun used to kill Barry, according to Krasner.
Meanwhile, the district attorney vowed to fight to shut down the unlicensed club where the incident began, saying Nipsey’s Hookah Lounge was a nuisance to neighbors and that it may be connected to at least one other death.
In July, a 29-year-old woman getting out of a rideshare was struck and killed in a hit-and-run crash on the same block of Elmwood Avenue as Nipsey’s around 3:30 a.m.
The property has a history of violations with the city’s licenses and inspections office and was not permitted to operate as an after-hours club, the Inquirer learned.
In the wake of Barry’s killing, the District Attorney’s Office has filed a motion to shut down the business, Krasner said. A court hearing on the matter is expected early next month.