A 27-year-old Trenton man who police say shot a customer who was helping break up a fight at a Morrisville strip club Thursday morning has surrendered to authorities.
Pedro E. Rodriguez was arraigned Thursday evening before District Judge Corryn Kronnagel on four felonies including attempted homicide and discharging a firearm into an occupied structure, and 17 misdemeanor counts of reckless endangerment. He was taken to Bucks County Correctional Center in lieu of $5 million bail.
Rodriguez surrendered hours after Bucks County Detectives filed an arrest warrant charging him in the shooting, which occurred shortly after 1 a.m. at The Border Gentlemen’s Club in the 400 block of South Pennsylvania Avenue, according to the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office.
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Witnesses and bar surveillance video showed Rodriguez and a friend were drinking alcohol and engaging with bar staff earlier in the night. The club owner allegedly spoke to the men several times because of their loud rowdy behavior, according to an affidavit of probable cause.
After the bar owner refused to continue to serve drinks to Rodriguez and his friend, who was not identified, Rodriguez became upset and announced he was going to his car to get his gun and started walking toward the bar exit, the affidavit said.
The owner followed Rodriguez, but then Rodriguez’s friend started fighting with the owner and other staff in the doorway. Rodriguez walked out to the parking lot, retrieved his gun, and headed back to the club, the affidavit said.
The fight was continuing when Rodriguez reached the doorway, and he allegedly shot another customer, Mekhi Norman, multiple times.
Norman, who did not know Rodriguez, was attempting to help staff stop the fight, the affidavit said. He was struck in the back of the head, left thigh and both armpits, detectives said.
He was transported to Capital Health Regional Hospital in Trenton where he was listed in critical condition on a ventilator Thursday evening.
At the time of the shooting 17 people were inside the bar,. authorities said.
Rodriguez and his friend then fled after the shooting scene in a Lexus SUV heading north on Route 1 into Trenton, New Jersey. It was not immediately known Thursday night if the unidentified man with Rodriguez would face criminal charges in the incident.
Reporter Jo Ciavaglia can be reached at jciavaglia@gannett.com
This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Trenton man surrenders in Morrisville shooting outside strip club. Here's what we know.
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