Three people are reported dead and two others were injured in a shooting at a New-Jersey bar in the early morning hours of Christmas Day.
Police said the suspect, who they are currently looking for, tried to enter Slick's Go-Go Bar close to midnight, NJ.com reported.
Pierre Clervoyant Sr., the bar's owner, said the bouncer did not let the suspect, who was also with another man, in the bar because "they were clearly drunk."
The bar's bouncer proceeded to pat the suspect down. The bouncer felt the gun and asked the suspect to take a step back, NJ.com reported.
Clervoyant said his son, the bar's manager, went outside "to calm the situation down," NJ.com reported. Two other customers in the bar also went to help the bouncer.
That's when the situation turned deadly. The suspect eventually took out this gun and fired an unknown number of shots.
A total of five people were shot. The bouncer, identified as 32-year-old Woodley Daniel, Clervoyant's son, 34-year-old Pierre Clervoyant Jr., and an unidentified third man were pronounced dead when they were taken to University Hospital in Newark a little after 1 p.m., NJ.com reported. The third man is thought to be a friend of the shooter.
Two other unidentified men, a 34-year-old from East Orange and a 27-year-old from Irvington, were wounded and taken to the same hospital, NJ.com reported.
Pierre Clervoyant Jr.'s family said he was a well-loved man who was just trying to help everybody make peace when he was shot, NJ.com reported. He leaves behind his wife and six-year-old daughter.
"Everyone knew Pierre because of his smile," Candice Clervoyant, the victim's husband, told NJ.com.
"He was better than a great father, he was excellent," she said. "He was kind and compassionate."
Reports say the shooter was able to escape in a grey sedan. A $10,000 reward is being offered for information leading to the suspect's capture.
The Irvington Police and the Essex County Prosecutor's Office Homicide/Major Crimes Task Force are investigating the shooting, NJ.com reported.
