‘A public nuisance’: Family of woman killed in mass shooting at Penn Hills bar files lawsuit

The property owner and property manager of Ballers Hookah Lounge and Cigar Bar in Penn Hills are facing a wrongful death lawsuit after seven people were hurt and two were killed in a shooting at the Laketon Road establishment on June 2.

>>> 2 people killed in Penn Hills bar shooting identified; 7 others hurt expected to survive

“We believe they knew this was a public nuisance since at least 2023 and allowed it to exist,” said attorney Anthony Giannetti, who filed the lawsuit this week on behalf of the family of Stephanie Stuart, one of the two people killed at Ballers last month.

“I can tell you the family really wants this place shut down, that’s what they want,” Giannetti said.

According to Giannetti, the shooting never should have happened because Ballers never should have been operating to begin with.

“They publicly advertise on the Facebook page as a bar with strippers and nude models. It’s no secret and I think that’s the point of the lawsuit. It’s not like this was some secret. It’s public knowledge they were running a strip club and unlicensed bar, which is by definition a public nuisance,” Giannetti said.

Channel 11 previously reported that Ballers did not have a valid liquor license.

Now, Giannetti and the Stuart family say property owner Bucci Ventura Mullen, LLC and property manager Berkshire Hathaway should face a penalty of more than $50,000 in damages. Neither company could immediately be reached for comment.

“We know there were two shootings at this bar before this shooting. We know it’s an unlicensed strip club, and by the Penn Hills ordinances, strip clubs are a public nuisance and can’t exist,” Giannetti said.

Channel 11 reached out to Penn Hills Police Chief Ronold Como to try to verify that there were two other shootings in the weeks or months leading up to June’s fatal shooting but has not heard back.

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