Fight In Front Of Midtown Bar Leads To Shooting, Teenager Arrested

A bar in the Midtown District is once again at the center of an Oklahoma City police shooting investigation. 

A teenager was taken into custody over the weekend accused of shooting a man outside the Sunset Bar.  

“When we got here,” said Mauricio Rodriguez, a witness. “There was already a large police presence.”

Despite the heavy police presence near Northwest 10th Street and Hudson Avenue early Sunday morning, a large fight broke out on the sidewalk in front of Sunset Bar. Mauricio Rodriguez, a News 9 employee, was only feet away from that scuffle. 

“It was a very large group of guys that were having some sort of beef,” said Rodriguez.

Rodriguez said intuition took over when he heard the fight escalate.

“At one point we’re walking away from the fight, and I hear somebody say something about a gun. So that’s when I told my friends, my buddies we gotta go,” said Rodriguez. “We ran around the corner to Fassler’s to try to get as much cover between us, and about 10 seconds later we hear five, six shots go off.”

Police said one of those gunshots hit a 21-year-old man in the lower body. Officers quickly determined the suspect was a 17-year-old male and arrested him at the scene. 

“Police arrived at the hospital, interviewed the victim,” said Sgt. Dillon Quirk, Oklahoma City Police Department. “They were not very forthcoming at all with information.”

The latest shooting was one of multiple shooting investigations at the bar. All ended in arrests, and one in a death. A 22-year-old man died on New Year's Day this year after he was shot multiple times. Bar patrons are concerned it could happen again.

“I think this is absolutely a hot spot,” said Rodriguez.

The teenage suspect arrested over the weekend was booked into the Oklahoma County Juvenile Detention Center on complaints of shooting with intent to kill and unlawful possession of a weapon by a child.