A man was shot and killed outside H's Bar and Grill on Verona Road in Penn Hills late Thursday night, and first responders found him dead at the scene. Police say the victim had been speaking with the man who shot him just moments before the gunfire erupted outside the bar around 11 p.m.
The victim's name has not been released. According to WTAE, Allegheny County police say the man was talking with the suspect outside the bar when the shooting happened, and investigators were seen speaking with witnesses at the scene as the search for the shooter got underway. Police describe the gunman as a heavyset man wearing a white T-shirt and black shorts, though no arrest has been announced.
A Bar With A Violent History
This is not the first time gunfire has erupted outside H's Bar and Grill at 4257 Verona Road. In May 2023, a man was shot and injured outside the bar following an argument that began inside, with Penn Hills police and Allegheny County detectives responding to the scene around 12:30 a.m., according to the same report. And in February 2019, a 26-year-old man was critically wounded in a shooting outside the bar, found lying in the roadway with multiple gunshot wounds after officers traced a blood trail back to the entrance.
The bar's troubles go beyond shootings. In November 2018, H's Bar and Grill was the site of a violent brawl in which two women were stabbed with broken beer bottles, the outlet's report notes. The venue operates under a liquor license held by HS Lounge, LLC, which was renewed under a conditional licensing agreement approved 3-0 by the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board's District 5 board in April 2022.
Unsolved Cases Loom Over Verona Road
The Verona Road corridor has a long, troubled history of violence tied to its nightlife. County detectives are still seeking leads in the unsolved December 31, 2022 fatal shooting of 39-year-old Kenneth Dorsey, who was last seen leaving a venue on the 4300 block of Verona Road before he was killed; surveillance footage reportedly captured a dark SUV following his car as he left. And in July 2010, 27-year-old Jaison Houser was fatally shot after leaving a bar on Verona Road when an approaching vehicle opened fire on his SUV at a nearby traffic light, collapsing on Graham Boulevard before he died at UPMC Presbyterian.
Thursday's shooting also lands amid a sharp spike in violence across Penn Hills this year. Just over a week earlier, on July 29, a man and a woman were found shot to death inside a crashed vehicle in the township, a case Hoodline reported on after first responders initially treated the scene as a routine vehicle collision before discovering gunshot wounds. Penn Hills is among the eastern Allegheny County municipalities that historically record a high volume of homicide cases referred to county investigators, per the New Pittsburgh Courier.
Investigation Continues
The Allegheny County Police Department Homicide Unit investigates all fatal shootings in Penn Hills, since the township relies on county detectives for major violent crime cases rather than operating its own homicide division. Anyone with information can call the department's anonymous tip line at 1-833-ALL-TIPS (1-833-255-8477).
It remains unclear whether the victim and the gunman were patrons of H's Bar and Grill before their encounter outside, or whether surveillance cameras at the bar captured footage of the heavyset suspect. It's also unknown whether the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board will revisit the establishment's license given its history of violent incidents. No arrests had been announced as of Friday morning.
