August 27, 2026
Michaela Althouse/PhillyVoice
An off-duty Philadelphia Police officer was fatally shot outside an illegal hookah lounge (above), according to District Attorney Larry Krasner.
The off-duty Philadelphia police officer who was fatally shot earlier this month was outside an illegal "speakeasy," the District Attorney's Office said Thursday.
Alhassane Barry was shot just before 4 a.m. on Aug. 16 near 72nd Street and Elmwood Avenue. He was taken to Penn Presbyterian Medical Center and pronounced dead around 8 a.m. Another man was shot and remains in critical but stable condition. Investigators have identified the alleged shooter and brought him in for questioning, but they didn't release a name and have yet to charge anyone in the incident.
District Attorney Larry Krasner said city officials have filed papers to shut down the business, called Nipsey's Hookah Lounge, where the shooting took place. He called it an illegal speakeasy and said it was designed to look like an unused space. It had windows covered in plastic, insulation and drywall, which Krasner believes was meant to mute sound and keep people from looking inside.
"They're making a bunch of money running an illegal establishment and trying to make it look like it's an abandoned building on the outside," Krasner said.
Licensed bars in Philadelphia are only allowed to be open until 2 a.m. and the shooting happened around 4 a.m. A few weeks prior to the incident, there was a fatal hit-and-run on the same street as the bar, Krasner said. Since there are no other businesses on the street, he thinks that the person was likely crossing the street to go there.
A court hearing is scheduled for Sep. 2 where the owner will have an opportunity to speak about the legality of the business, according to the DA's office.
The exterior of Nipsey's Hookah Lounge, seen in a photo above, was meant to look like an abandoned building, according to District Attorney Larry Krasner.
Krasner said it is unclear why Barry was at the business. He said that investigators have spoken with the shooter, who confirmed that he fired the gun and turned in the weapon for testing. However, Krasner said further investigation will be necessary, including waiting for results about medical and ballistics testing.
He declined to answer whether a second gun was found at the scene or if the shooter was acting in self-defense. He said it will be approximately two months before investigators have further information about the incident, although they have recovered two surveillance videos.
"When you have witness statements from a number of people and some what you're getting matches and some doesn't match video that you have, it's time to dig deeper," Krasner said. "It's time to talk to any at all possible witnesses, it's time to try to do things like getting inside of a phone or looking at electronic records."
