Six people shot and wounded outside a Philly nightclub

Five demonstrators stood Sunday over bloodstains on Spring Garden Street in Philadelphia, a few hours after gunfire broke out there outside the Trilogy Nightclub at Sixth Street.

The group waved signs reading “Stop the killing” at passing motorists. They numbered one fewer than the six people shot earlier when a gunman fired into a crowd at 3:23 a.m., wounding four women and two men. A 26-year-old woman, who was shot in the chest, was originally listed in critical condition but improved to stable condition after surgery, police said.

“We’re here to bring awareness to this gun violence in the city,” said Preston Davis, with the activist Philadelphia Anti-Drug/Anti-Violence Network. “We need more people to come out.”

Police Capt. John Walker said the shooting started after two men argued inside the club as it held a Halloween-themed event. As the club was ushering people out for the night, the men kept quarreling outside and their dispute escalated into a physical fight involving men and women.

Finally, one of the initial disputants pulled a .40-caliber handgun and began firing, wounding the man with whom he had originally been arguing — and others, too.

“When a large number of bullets flies, there are no names on them,” Walker said.

Walker said it appeared that the gunman, who escaped, was the only shooter. Police said they had made no arrests and recovered no weapons.

The men who were wounded were a 37-year-old shot in the lower back and a 29-year-old shot in the foot. The three other female victims were a 20-year-old shot in the back, a 31-year-old shot in the thigh and ankle, and a 30-year-old grazed along her head and feet.

“They will survive,” Walker said.

Public Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board records say Trilogy is licensed to sell liquor until 3 a.m. under the name Palmer Social Club. Its last liquor-code violation was in 2011, the records say.

Shawn Kelly, a spokesperson for the liquor-control agency, said Sunday that such clubs are supposed to admit only members who have gone through an application process and to operate as a nonprofit enterprise.

In its Facebook pages, Trilogy bills itself as “Philadelphia’s premier place to party” and appears open to all comers. “Tell a friend to tell a friend!!!” it advertises.

The club offers a variety of “bottle service packages,” the most expensive of which costs $1,500 and provides guests with three hookahs, two bottles of champagne, and four more bottles of premium liquor. The place enforces an “upscale and classy” dress code, it says.

A man who answered the phone at a number listed for the club’s management on one of its two Facebook pages declined to identify himself or talk about the shooting.