Man ejected from bar returns, shoots three

Keith Paul

Friday, Dec. 10, 1999 | 11:04 a.m.

A man kicked out of an East Sahara Avenue bar early Friday returned minutes later with a gun and fired shots at the entrance, hitting two men standing outside and a woman inside the bar.

A 30-year-old man hit by one of the shots was in surgery this morning at University Medical Center. A 24-year-old man and 30-year-old woman were both treated at the hospital and released.

The gunman was apparently causing a disturbance inside El Potrero at 1243 E. Sahara Ave., at Maryland Parkway, and was escorted out by the bar's security, Metro Police homicide unit Lt. Wayne Petersen said.

About 4:15 a.m., the man came back to the bar and fired several shots from outside at the bar's front door area. Several people were standing in front of the bar at the time, Petersen said.

"Two males standing outside were hit and a woman inside the bar was apparently hit by a bullet that went through a glass window," Petersen said. "We don't have any indication that he was firing at these specific people."

Most of the people around the bar at the time of the shooting left the area before police arrived.

The gunman was described as Hispanic, 5 feet 10 inches tall with a heavy build weighing between 210 and 225 pounds with a bald or shaved head. He was last seen wearing a gray shirt over a white tank top, baseball cap and blue pants, possibly jogging pants with snaps up the sides. He also has a large tattoo on his back.

He was seen leaving in a light blue car, possibly a Maxima or Altima.

Earlier this week in an unrelated incident inside a bar six people were shot including an off-duty Metro officer. In that incident, three gunman rushed into Mr. D's sports bar on Rainbow and Oakey boulevards in an apparent robbery attempt.

Officer Dennis Devitte, who was off-duty at time, shot and killed one of the gunmen -- 19-year-old Emilio Rodriguez -- in a gun battle. The two other gunmen fled the bar and have not been apprehended. The five wounded customers, who were all injured by the gunmen's bullets, have all been released from the hospital. Devitte is still recovering from seven gunshot wounds.