Jailene Holton Philadelphia woman shot dead after disgruntled bar patron fires 15 shots into bar moments after being made to leave. No arrests.
A 21 year old Philadelphia woman has died after she was fatally struck by gunfire after a disgruntled bar patron who had been thrown out moments earlier, fired off at least 15 gunshots in retaliation, of which 5 went through the front door according to her family.
Reports of gunfire led to responding 8th District officers coming across Jailene Holton suffering from a gunshot wound to the head at the Philly Bar and Restaurant.
The woman who rarely went out and was the designated driver for her group of friends was rushed to hospital and underwent surgery only to not make it.
The bloodletting came to pass after three men walked into the bar earlier that evening, with one of them demanding to play billiards only to be rebuked because a billiards league was using the pool table.
Authorities say the man began to cause a disturbance and was escorted out of the bar with the two other men he arrived with.
NORTHEAST BAR SHOOTING: @PhillyPolice say a man fired 15 shots into Philly Bar & Restaurant, hitting a 21 y/o female bystander in the head, following a “disturbance.” Live updates all morning on the victims and the search for the shooter on @CBSPhilly pic.twitter.com/VoUTEaU67J
— Ross DiMattei CBS-3 (@RossDiMattei) June 29, 2022
‘What do you mean she’s been shot?’
As the disturbance escalated, patrons in the bar were advised to stand at the back of the bar for their safety according to sources cited by FOX29.
According to police, the man then returned to a pickup truck and fired 15 shots at the bar, striking the bar’s brick wall 10 times while five bullets entered the bar’s front window.
One of those bullets fatally struck Holton in the head, according to her uncle James Holton.
“I’m on my way home from work and I get the call and I’m like, ‘what do you mean she’s been shot?” an emotional Holton told Philadelphia CBS.
Jailene was actually in the back of the bar when she was shot.
‘She was a good kid. She usually worked and went home,’ the uncle continued. ‘I mean she didn’t go out often. Her friend called her up, she went out to Top Golf and then they came out here. They were only going to be here about 15 [to] 20 minutes and that’s when the altercation broke out.’
‘When are people going to get fed up with this reckless shooting in the city?’ the uncle stated, referencing Philadelphia’s ongoing gun violence. ‘Nobody does nothing. They get a mouthpiece for 20 seconds on TV and that’s it and everybody’s running around like the Wild West out here. I mean cowards!’
“WHEN ARE PEOPLE GOING TO GET FED UP?”: The uncle of Jailene Holton, the 21-year-old woman fatally shot at a bar in Northeast Philadelphia, is speaking out about his niece’s death. | Read more: https://t.co/MscrKMd3AV#FOX29Philly #FOX29 pic.twitter.com/62LkmCrcRt
— FOX 29 (@FOX29philly) June 29, 2022
Philadelphia gun violence
‘She was just a good kid… she was trying to get her life together, you know, and find herself in life,’ Jailene’s father Jason Holton told NBC10. ‘It just sucks.’
As of Tuesday, 254 people have been murdered in Philadelphia, according to police data. That’s 6% percent lower than the same time in 2021, when Philly tallied an all-time high of 562 homicides.
A GoFundMe has been set up to help Holton’s family pay for funeral expenses.
Authorities to date have yet to make any arrests. Police are now reviewing surveillance footage.
