A Reading man has been charged with two counts of attempted homicide in a shooting that erupted during a large fight outside an east Reading tavern early Sunday.
Michael Raifsnider, 21, was arraigned Tuesday before District Judge Kyley L. Scott.
Investigators say he sparked the gunfire when he stepped out of a vehicle and opened fire into a crowd gathered at 17th and Cotton streets around 2 a.m., critically wounding two men.
Raifsnider of the 1100 block of Greenwich Street is being held in Berks County Jail without bail. In addition to attempted homicide, he faces two counts each of aggravated assault and reckless endangerment.
According to investigators, the two men he is accused of shooting suffered life‑threatening injuries.
Raifsnider was also wounded. Police said he was hit in the nose by return fire from unidentified people in the crowd.
The charges were filed Tuesday by Reading police Criminal Investigator Charles Federico, according to online court records. Police have not released information about the shooting and did not publicly announce the charges.
According to the probable cause affidavit:
Police and medics arrived to find three gunshot victims.
Eduardo Perez Jr., 24, of Philadelphia — who was later charged with a felony count of riot — had gunshot wounds to the back and buttock. Police said one bullet severed his femoral artery.
A 29‑year‑old Temple man, who has not been charged, suffered a gunshot wound to the eye.
All three were taken by ambulance to Reading Hospital. Their conditions were unavailable.
Security footage shows the violence began about 30 minutes before the shooting, when Perez got into an altercation with an unidentified man inside El Rincon Anejo Bar at 1701 Cotton St.
During the argument, the other man punched Perez in the face, knocking him to the floor. Perez was helped up by patrons and left the bar shortly afterward.
Around closing time, Perez is seen standing with a group at the southeast corner of the intersection. He runs toward two men leaving the bar and punches one of them. Several unidentified males join in, and a larger fight breaks out.
At that point, the passenger door of a Dodge Durango parked in the crosswalk on the southwest corner opens, and Raifsnider gets out. He pulls a handgun from his waistband and fires several shots north into the 400 block of South 17th Street.
Perez and the Temple man are struck.
Three unidentified suspects then fire at Raifsnider, who collapses behind a pickup truck.
Along with the shooting suspect, court records show Perez was also committed to the Berks jail without bail following his arraignment Tuesday before Scott to await a hearing on the riot charge.
An investigation into the shooting continues.