Man who fired shot that killed man, injured 2 others after bar fight in Allentown will not be charged, acted in self-defense, DA says | Allentown Area

ALLENTOWN, Pa. – The Lehigh County District Attorney’s Office says a man who fired shots at three people, killing one and injuring two others, at a bar in Allentown last year was justified in his use of force.

The man will not be charged, because he was acting in self-defense and the defense of others during a fight at Big Woody’s at 1410 Hanover Ave. on Dec. 19, according to a news release from the DA’s office.

Multiple people were involved in the fight, and authorities might still file charges in the case, the DA’s office said.

The DA’s office said David Gibbs died in the incident. The cause of death was found to be a gunshot wound of the torso and the coroner determined the manner of death to be homicide, according to the news release.

The DA’s office said Gibbs and a group of people got into a fight with another group that included the man who ended up firing the shots at Big Woody’s on Dec. 19.

According to the DA’s office, the people from Gibbs’ group assaulted members of the man’s group.

At one point, a person in Gibbs’ group charged at and stabbed a person in the man’s group, according to the news release.

During the course of the fight, the man fired shots at three people, killing Gibbs and injuring the two other people in his group, according to the DA’s office.

The man remained at the bar after the shooting and called 911 requesting police and EMS while indicating that he had shot three people in self-defense, the DA’s office said.

After an investigation, the DA’s office said that a member of the man’s group was at risk of death or serious bodily injury from the combined assault of Gibbs and the two others in his group. One of the men had a knife, according to the DA’s office.

The DA’s office said the person being assaulted by Gibbs and the other two people in his group would have been legally justified in using deadly force to protect himself in that situation had he been capable of doing so.

The man who fired the shots at the three people during the fight reasonably believed that the use of deadly force was imminently necessary to protect the person from the risk of death or serious bodily injury, the DA’s office said.

The DA’s office concluded that neither the man who fired the shots nor the person being attacked by all the members of Gibbs’ group provoked the fight.