Owner Killed, 5 Wounded In New York Nightclub Shooting

The suspect was out on bail on another attempted murder charge.
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The owner of a suburban New York nightclub was killed and five others injured when an unruly customer being ejected opened fire on the packed venue early Christmas Day, police said.

Authorities arrested a suspect from the Bronx after he was allegedly tackled by security at Mansion Night Club in Mount Vernon, the Westchester Journal News reported. He was out on bail on an attempted murder charge there, the New York Daily News and the Journal News reported.

The 36-year-old co-owner of the popular spot, O’Neil Bandoo, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Bandoo’s father-in-law, Patrick Merchant, told the New York Daily News that the shooter was “getting rough inside of the club, so they let him out.” “The guy retaliated and came back and just started shooting on them in the front, just shooting on all of them,” he added. “This is the worst Christmas ever.”

A witness said the shooter pulled out a gun he had tucked in his waistband. The suspect, out on $200,000 bail on an attempted murder count from a confrontation in May in the Bronx, is scheduled for a hearing on that charge Jan. 4.

Police charged the suspect, identified as Errol Hillary, 39, with second-degree murder and attempted murder in the night club shooting. He is expected to be arraigned in Mount Vernon City Court Monday.

Mount Vernon Mayor Richard Thomas described the shooting as a “dark day in our city.” It’s a time “we’re supposed to spend with our family, not extend condolences,” he said at a press conference with Bandoo’s wife. “No person and no family should ever spend Christmas like this.”

The Mount Vernon Police Department declined to comment to The Huffington Post on the shooting.

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