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As boxers flail away, bar patrons brawl - until one pulls a gun, killing 3

Patrons inside the Abay Wheelers Bar on 62nd Street near Reedland in Kingsessing were watching a heavyweight boxing match early yesterday, and the violence in the ring may have incited a deadly brawl.

Outside a Kingsessing bar, children stand near where three patrons were slain.
Outside a Kingsessing bar, children stand near where three patrons were slain.Read moreAssociated Press

Patrons inside the Abay Wheelers Bar on 62nd Street near Reedland in Kingsessing were watching a heavyweight boxing match early yesterday, and the violence in the ring may have incited a deadly brawl.

One of the boxers even bore the deadly nickname, "The Executioner."

Cops said that an argument broke out inside the bar shortly before 1 a.m. and the participants quickly started throwing punches.

The fight turned deadly when one of the brawlers pulled a 9 mm semiautomatic pistol and started shooting, a police source said.

When the smoke cleared, three men were dead. Homicide detectives identified the men as Jamar Thompson, 31, Arthur Jennings, 20, and Claude Snelling, 30.

The gunman fled.

A fourth man was shot in the stomach and wrist and was taken to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, a police source said. Homicide detectives said he remained in critical but stable condition at HUP yesterday.

Cops said they did not know what started the argument during the heavyweight bout between Bernard "The Executioner" Hopkins and Winky Wright.

The killings were part of a weekend of violence that left three other men dead.

An 18-year-old man was stabbed in the back shortly before 10 p.m. Saturday on Venango Street near Germantown Avenue in North Philadelphia, cops said.

He was pronounced dead at Temple University Hospital about 11:15 p.m. Saturday.

A 23-year-old man identified as Charles Tunstall was shot in the head shortly before 2 a.m. yesterday at 54th and Arlington streets in Wynnefield.

Tunstall was pronounced dead at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital about 6:20 a.m.

An unidentified man who appeared to be in his 30s was shot multiple times in the chest on Dauphin Street near Bancroft, North Philadelphia, shortly before 5 a.m. yesterday. He died at Temple about 5:30 a.m.

Outside the Kingsessing bar yesterday, a small memorial of balloons and stuffed animals had been erected.

"It's bad," said a man who declined to provide his name. "Everyone's got a gun these days. You never know who's going to be next."

Four separate shootings also wounded seven people this weekend, police said.

A 15-year-old girl was the latest among the wounded after being shot twice in the leg about 7:30 last night on 22nd Street near Reed in South Philadelphia.

Detectives were trying to determine why the girl was shot. An 18-year-old man was arrested in connection with the incident.

The girl was taken to Children's Hospital in stable condition.

A 35-year-old woman was hit in the back by a stray bullet shortly after 6 last night after a domestic disturbance on 70th Street near Reedland, Southwest Philadelphia.

Three people were taken into custody in connection with the incident. The woman was listed in stable condition at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.

Violence "has been out of control for a while now," said Kay, a mother of two who was making her way back to her home. "I mean, we were just getting ice cream, and you can't even do that anymore," she said surveying the yellow crime scene tape and police officers.

Two unidentified men were shot on the corner of 59th and Sansom streets in West Philadelphia about 2:30 Saturday afternoon, police said.

One man was shot in the head, shoulder, and back. He was in extremely critical condition last night at HUP.

The other man was shot twice in the face and twice in the hand, and was in critical but stable condition at HUP.

Police in Southwest Philadelphia were called to 53rd street near Greenway Avenue after gunfire erupted in the street and three men were wounded shortly after 11 p.m. Friday.

An 18-year-old was shot once in the right ankle, another 18-year-old was shot in the abdomen, and a 23-year-old was shot once in the right hip.

One of the men didn't know he had been shot because he was paralyzed last year after he was shot by a security guard for shooting someone else, police said.

Police recovered 25 9 mm shell casings and 40 casings from a Smith & Wesson handgun from the scene. *