Arrest made in Phila. strip-club shooting

Nearly five months after video cameras caught a man firing an AK-47 into a Southwest Philadelphia strip club, Philadelphia police have arrested and charged the man they say is responsible for the shooting.

Henry Pettigrew, 22, was taken into custody without incident early Wednesday at a house in Grays Ferry, said Lt. John Walker of Southwest Detectives, which worked the case along with fugitive squads from the Homicide Unit and the FBI.

On May 11, Pettigrew and a friend were kicked out of the Purple Orchid, 3275 S. 61st St., about 2 a.m. after they got into a dispute with a bouncer.

Minutes later, video cameras recorded a man wearing an orange sweatshirt and clutching an AK-47 running toward the club. Just outside the club, he slipped and fell, then got himself up and made it to the club's vestibule before again slipping and falling. Finally, the video shows him wrenching open the front door and firing into the club.

One person suffered minor injuries, police said. The shooter then fled in a car driven by another man.

Pettigrew was arrested about 6:30 a.m. Wednesday after detectives received a tip on his whereabouts, Walker said. His arrest was without incident - unlike the man who allegedly drove the getaway car and was arrested in June in Collingdale.

During his arrest, Shamarr Pitts - who was charged with conspiracy, attempted murder, and related charges - pointed a semiautomatic handgun at a Philadelphia detective, Walker said, and pulled the trigger. The gun, however, did not discharge, he said.

Pettigrew was awaiting arraignment on five counts of attempted murder, aggravated assault, simple assault, recklessly endangering another person, and weapons offenses, Walker said. The AK-47 allegedly used in May's shooting, he said, has not been recovered.