Police release images of a suspect in the killing of an off-duty Philly officer
The suspect was last seen near 73rd Street and Buist Avenue, police said, while mourners remembered Alhassane Barry's life of service.
Investigators on Monday released images of a suspect in the fatal shooting of an off-duty Philadelphia police officer outside an after-hours nightclub in Southwest Philadelphia early Sunday morning.
The man, whom police did not identify, was seen on 73rd Street near Buist Avenue, about a block away from the shooting in which 29-year-old Officer Alhassane Barry was killed and another man was critically injured.
Surveillance images released by the department Monday show the suspect wearing a black hoodie and a blue face mask.
Deputy Commissioner Frank Vanore urged the public to come forward with any video or images that may depict the suspect or others who were outside Nipsey’s Hookah Lounge, an unlicensed nightclub that city inspectors have repeatedly cited and some neighbors described as a nuisance.
Gunfire erupted outside the property on the 7200 block of Elmwood Avenue around 4 a.m., sending bystanders running.
Investigators have not identified a motive for the shooting, and the suspect remains at large.
“We need answers right now,” Vanore said during a news conference in which he sought the public’s help locating the suspect. “We need to solve this case.”
Police said the suspect was last seen fleeing south on 73rd Street.
Investigators recovered a firearm and eight spent 9mm shell casings from the scene, though they said they had yet to determine to whom the gun belongs.
Barry and the other victim, a 35-year-old man whom police did not identify, were rushed to Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, where the officer was pronounced dead at 8 a.m. Sunday.
The second victim, who was struck multiple times, and placed in critical condition, remained in the hospital as of Monday morning. No update on his condition was available.
During a service for Barry held earlier in the day, a procession of mourners shut down traffic outside a mosque in a bustling Southwest Philadelphia neighborhood, where more than a hundred people gathered at the Fouta Islamic Center.
More than a dozen uniformed police officers stood in formation as a hearse carrying Barry’s body departed the mosque, located just blocks from the site of the shooting.
“He was a bright young fellow,” said attendee Amina Sheriff-Comteh, adding that in keeping with Islamic tradition, the burial was being held shortly after the death.
In honor of Barry, Sheriff-Comteh said, she and other attendees prayed for blessings, forgiveness, and peace.
“He was an amazing guy,” said a young man outside the service, who declined to offer his name given that police were still searching for Barry’s killer.
Those who knew Barry spoke proudly of his two-year career with the Philadelphia Police Department, where he was assigned to the 12th District in Southwest Philadelphia, as well as his lengthier tenure in the military.
Barry enlisted in the Pennsylvania National Guard as a cavalry scout in 2015 and spent a decade in service, said Heather J. Hagan, a U.S. Army spokesperson.
He spent two years deployed to Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula and left the Army as a sergeant, according to Hagan.
He was awarded multiple medals and ribbons throughout his service, she added.
Vanore, the deputy commissioner, said police would work tirelessly to locate the suspect.
He said questions about the business practices of the after-hours lounge would have to wait as police take on the more pressing job of arresting Barry’s killer.
Property records for the lounge shows a history of failed licenses and inspections investigations going back to 2021, with the most recent inspection filed in January.
In 2023, L&I inspectors wrote that Nipsey’s owners had not obtained a permit to operate the building as an after-hours lounge.
They also wrote additional violations for improper use of extension cords, unsecured compressed gas cylinders, and storing materials that were a fire risk in the rear yard.
Kandyce Stukes, a spokesperson for the Quality of Life division in the city’s Department of Licenses and Inspections, said inspectors issued orders to the building’s owner in 2023 and 2024 to cease operations.
The owner appealed and said they were unaware of the tenant’s conduct.
The case was sent to the Court of Common Pleas, and the L&I has since been navigating the legal process, Stukes said.
The cease-operations order remains in effect and any business operating there is doing so illegally, Stukes added.
