Upper Darby bar dubbed a 'huge toilet' scene of deadly shooting

A 23-year-old man was shot and killed early yesterday outside a nuisance bar in Upper Darby that Police Superintendent Michael Chitwood called "a huge toilet."

"Any of these bars, I don't care what community you are in, if they are a toilet, eventually they overflow," Chitwood said yesterday. "If they overflow, someone dies, like we had last night."

Police said that victim Randy Campbell got into a fight with another man in the bathroom of the Venue bar, on Garrett Road and Fairfield Avenue, sometime during the night. The man Campbell fought with got kicked out of the club, then waited until Campbell left about 2:40 a.m. The man then opened fire on Campbell, Chitwood said.

The assailant fired 13 bullets. Campbell, who was the only one hit, was shot in the left side of his head and his chin. He was taken to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and pronounced dead, police said.

Police questioned about 150 people who were in a nearby parking lot cooperative, Chitwood said. The gunman remained at large last night.

When authorities arrived, they found the club already locked for the night. Police knocked but no one came to the door, Chitwood said.

"We figured the owners shut down and bolted," he said.

But nearly four hours later, while police were still investigating the scene, the club's owner and two bouncers emerged from the bar, Chitwood said. They were immediately taken to Upper Darby police headquarters for questioning. It's unknown whether they will face any charges.

"That was so nice of them to be cooperative the way they were," Chitwood said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

He said that the bar has had three name changes in just a year - it went from Traxx to Rhythms to Venue - but that the bar continues to cause problems whatever its name.