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Defendant in bar shooting held for trial

A LOGAN MAN accused of shooting six people - one fatally - in June after bouncers kicked him out of a Nicetown bar for smoking, was ordered held for trial yesterday.

A LOGAN MAN accused of shooting six people - one fatally - in June after bouncers kicked him out of a Nicetown bar for smoking, was ordered held for trial yesterday.

Philadelphia Municipal Judge Kenneth J. Powell Jr. made the ruling following a preliminary hearing, during which three of the five surviving victims testified about the mayhem that erupted at the Genesis Tavern on June 26.

Wayne James, 45, of Wagner Avenue near 11th Street, became enraged after being put out of the bar and returned minutes later, stood at the bar door and fired a handgun multiple times, authorities said.

Carl Sharper, 43, who relatives said was a father of two and a city Water Department employee, was struck in the head and died at the scene. He had stopped by the bar to pick up a takeout-food order, said Assistant District Attorney Brendan O'Malley.

James also allegedly shot a 32-year-old man in the back, a 44-year-old woman in the abdomen and injured three other bar patrons.

The judge held James on one count of murder in Sharper's slaying and on four counts of attempted murder in the shooting of four victims, and dropped an attempted-murder charge on one victim who refused to cooperate with authorities.

The violence captured by a security camera is uncharacteristic of Genesis Tavern, on Wayne Avenue near Roberts, said O'Malley, the prosecutor.

"That bar is a local neighborhood tavern. It's pretty much like Cheers; everybody knows each other's name," he said. "It's very safe because of the level of security that they have in there."

In the moments before being tossed out, James blew smoke in a bouncer's face after being told to stop smoking, O'Malley said.

James drove away, came back and then unleashed the gunfire, O'Malley said.

He was arrested three days later due in part to tipsters who called police after seeing video of the shootings.

James' public defenders, Susan Ricci and Francis Carmen, declined to comment after the hearing. The judge set James' formal arraignment for Jan. 3.