A fatal shooting outside a Bucks County bar may have been in self-defense, police say

A shooting outside a bar in Upper Southampton Township on Friday night that left two men dead and another injured appears to have been an act of self-defense, according to detectives investigating the case.

Steven A. Panebianco, 30, of Bensalem, and Raymond A. Farrell IV, 28, of Philadelphia, were shot multiple times in the parking lot of a strip mall on Second Street Pike that houses Steam Food & Pub, police said. A third man, 24, was taken to a hospital for a gunshot wound but was later released.

Upper Southampton Detective James Schirmer said Monday that it appears the 21-year-old shooter, whom police have not identified, acted in self-defense. The four men got into an argument in the strip mall’s parking lot that led to blows, he said, and the fight escalated to gunfire about 11:30 p.m.

Panebianco and Farrell, longtime friends, had been inside the pub before the shooting, as had the shooter and the other victim, Schrimer said. But there was no indication that the two groups had encountered each other until leaving the bar.

The man who fired the fatal shots has a valid license to carry a gun, and after the shooting, authorities said, he called 911 to report it. No charges have been filed in the case, which is still being actively investigated, according to the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office.

The shooting, which was recorded on surveillance cameras from nearby businesses, was the first homicide in the township since 2010.

Anyone with information about the shooting is urged to call the Upper Southampton Township Police Department at 215-364-5000, ext. 115.