Off-duty police officer killed in early-morning shooting in Southwest Philly

An off-duty Philadelphia police officer, Alhassane Barry, 29, died after being shot early Sunday morning outside an after-hours lounge in Southwest Philadelphia, police said.

Shortly before 4 a.m., police responded to a radio call reporting a shooting on the 7200 block of Elmwood Avenue, police said Sunday afternoon. Responding officers found Barry and another gunshot-wound victim at the scene, police said.

Both victims were taken to Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, where Barry was pronounced dead around 8 a.m., police said. The other victim was in critical condition when he arrived at the hospital, said police spokesperson Sgt. Eric Gripp.

No arrest has been made, and the motive for the shooting is unknown, police said.

A funeral service for Barry is scheduled for Monday at a mosque in Southwest Philadelphia, about one block from where he was shot.

The 29-year-old officer had been with the Police department for two years, police said Sunday, and was assigned to the 12th District, in Southwest Philadelphia.

This is at least the fourth Philadelphia Police Department officer to die in a shooting in the last decade, according to the Officer Down Memorial Page, a national site that tracks police deaths that occur while in the line of duty. Most recently, in September 2024, officer Jamie Roman died in the hospital nearly two months after being shot in the neck during a routine car stop.

In the last three years, at least 18 Philadelphia police officers have been shot in 12 incidents.

Sunday’s shooting occurred near a property neighbors and police have called an after-hours lounge. A social media account linked the address to a nightclub called “Nipsey’s Hookah Lounge.”

A neighbor, Safiatu Keita, said while she was saddened to hear of the officer’s death, she was not totally surprised that a shooting happened there. Keita said loud parties at the property have kept her family awake until 5 a.m. and left garbage cans piled high with empty liquor bottles.

“It’s not safe for us, because when people are drunk there, we can’t do anything,” Keita said.

On Sunday morning, the door of the property hung open as police stood near yellow tape closing off the block. An officer pointed out a pool of blood in front of a cooking grill on the sidewalk. White chalk circles on the street and sidewalk marked places where evidence had been identified.

“It’s a bad day,” one officer said, when a passerby asked what happened.

As detectives in suits came and went, a police lieutenant on the scene said they were working to obtain footage from security cameras on the street, which should provide more insight.

Mayor Cherelle L. Parker said she spent time with the family at Penn Presbyterian hospital to express her profound sorrow for their loss, and offer prayers for the 12th Police District.

“Any loss to gun violence significantly impacts us all. We will never stop working to make Philadelphia a safer city,” Parker said.

Outside Penn Presbyterian’s emergency room entrance late Sunday morning, police vehicles blocked off a segment of the street while officers stood outside. About a dozen people walked in a solemn procession to the front of the emergency department.

As a gurney was wheeled out of the hospital and into an ambulance, the group broke into mourning. Police saluted, and the ambulance drove away from the hospital.

“We continue to ask the community for their prayers, we continue to pray for his family,” Philadelphia Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel said

Bethel said anyone with information should call 215-686-TIPS.