Did slap inside Cavanaugh's River Deck lead to homicide outside?
When a man slapped a woman with his open hand Sunday night at Cavanaugh's River Deck, it set off a chain of events that ended with a homicide outside the popular Penn's Landing club, according to police and a club spokesman.
When a man slapped a woman with his open hand Sunday night at Cavanaugh's River Deck, it set off a chain of events that ended with a homicide outside the popular Penn's Landing club, according to police and a club spokesman.
On Tuesday, police identified the victim as Shelton Merritt, 24, of the unit block of Mouldy Road in Lawnside, Camden County.
Merritt's alleged killer, Xavier Braswell, 23, of the unit block of Underwood Court, Burlington City, has been charged with murder, firearms violations, and related offenses.
At least 1,000 patrons were at the club on the 400 block of North Columbus Boulevard when a dispute over a woman began between two men, according to George Polgar, a spokesman for Cavanaugh's River Deck.
The men exchanged words, and one reportedly struck the woman with his open palm, Polgar said.
"At that point, two groups totaling a half-dozen people were escorted out," Polgar said. "We have a protocol of separating whoever is involved so that they don't escalate outside of the property, and then we called the police, as is normal."
Officers responding to the call around 11:45 p.m. heard gunshots on the unit block of nearby Callowhill Street and found Merritt with gunshot wounds to his head and torso. He was later pronounced dead at Hahnemann University Hospital.
A man on a motorcycle directed police to three men fleeing on foot, telling the officers, " 'They just shot my boy,' " according to police.
All three men were taken into custody, but only Braswell had been charged as of Tuesday, police said.
Polgar said it was the first security issue he was aware of in 25 years of the club's summer Sunday night "Island Vibes" parties.
He stressed that the shooting took place "outside the boundaries of the facility" and that those involved had been escorted from the club by security before the deadly violence.
"The nature of the incident never escalated inside because we're very vigilant and we have a fairly large security staff," Polgar said.
He said he did not know who allegedly had slapped the woman inside the club.
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