Pleasure P Concert Turns Deadly!

Saturday police investigated what's being called a shootout, in which officers returned fire and one person died.  The incident took place in Wichita, Kansas after Pleasure P performed at Doc Howard’s Lounge on Friday (March 9) in the Old Town district.

So much for blaming bad behavior on rap concerts.  Pleasure P is definitely not gang affiliated of anything like that either.  So, what's the deal?  Why are "WE" killing each other and shooting one another over dumb stuff?  When have we become so sensitive?  I mean really.  This has got to stop!  "WE" have become our own terrorists!  It's crazy.

Anyway, the melee reportedly began at about 2 a.m.  Saturday after Pleasure P's  concert ended at Doc Howard’s Lounge.  Shorty after the show some sort of aurgument broke out and as clubgoers spilled into the streets, a fight broke out, and someone started firing a gun.

Wichita police Lt. Scott Heimerman reported, that officers chased a man armed with a gun into the parking garage, where they exchanged gunfire with him.  Sedgwick County emergency dispatch records confirm it was an officer-involved shooting.  Police Lt. Randy Reynolds confirmed that one of five people who were wounded had died, but he would not say anything else.

Doc Howard’s owner Bryan Shapiro said he was surprised when early news accounts linked the shooting to his club, which he said closed more than 15 minutes before the shooting.  Adding, “It happened in the middle of the street in the most neutral part of Old Town.  “They just happened to run in our direction.”

Shapiro said video cameras from his club and traces of blood that were still visible Saturday indicate that the first shots were fired at First and Rock Island.  Basically a block away from his establishment.  He said the video clearly shows that the first victim was hit while standing on the northeast corner of First and Rock Island.

Mr. Shapiro is denying police reports that any of the melee had to due with the concert or his club at all.  He told Wichita news crew, “Here you go; that’s where it happened,”  as he pointed to a red blood stain on the sidewalk. “It didn’t happen outside my building.”

Old town resident Michael Turenne said he had just finished walking his dog, Blitz, when he heard what he thought was a vehicle backfiring twice.  When he realized it wasn't a car he said, "I heard at least seven to eight shots."  Turenne said he saw police officers checking the pulse of a man on the ground before paramedics arrived and took him to a hospital.   Turenne said the man was lying between the parking garage and a restaurant.

Speaking of which, the manager of the Hotel at Old Town declined to comment about the shootings but, was helping guests get their cars out of the garage.  A police officer was stationed at the garage, which was taped off, allowing one person in at a time.  The garage was reopened after the scene was processed by police.

For now it's not clear if the suspect who was chased into the garage was the person killed. However, that's what it sounds like.  The owner of Doc Howard’s Lounge denied that the shooting took place in, around, or near the venue. “We’re an easy target, we’re the biggest boy on the block, and the biggest boy sometimes takes most of the blame.” Shapiro said there were 1,100 customers in Doc Howard’s on Friday night, and he said the crowd dispersed long before the shooting. He said several other clubs in Old Town were closing at about the same time, and he wonders why the shooting wasn’t connected to one of them.

Police plan to release more info tomorrow.