1 person hit by gunfire in Middletown bar parking lot

Third Base Cafe, 911 Crawford St. in Middletown, where shots were fired Saturday night in the parking lot. FILE PHOTO

Third Base Cafe, 911 Crawford St. in Middletown, where shots were fired Saturday night in the parking lot. FILE PHOTO

Middletown police say one person as well as several cars and a house were hit by gunfire late Saturday outside a Crawford Street bar.

Multiple shots rang out outside the Third Base Cafe, 911 Crawford St., after a fight in the bar, according to Middletown Police Lt. Jimmy Cunningham.

Officers were called to the bar at about 11:40 p.m. for reports of shots fired. Nine casings were found outside the bar and police were told one man was shot.

“The information we have is he ran out the back door,” Cunningham said of the man who was allegedly shot.

Detectives have been unable to find the shooting victim, he said.

“One house was hit and two or three cars,” Cunningham said. “One (shot) landed near a parent and child.”

Officers have been called to the bar 32 times in the past six months, according to police, who say most recently there were overdose and shots fired calls in August and June.

Last November, a double shooting occurred in the parking lot.

“The neighborhood has had it with the violence and so have we,” Cunningham told this news outlet today, noting the city is looking at its options in stopping the illegal activity.

“It used to be a working man’s bar, but now it is a place where drug dealers come to,” Cunningham said.

Officers remained at the scene until early Sunday.

Cunningham said bar owners, who were out of town, were unable to respond to access the security video to help in the investigation.

Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call detectives at 513-425-7700.

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