10 people hurt in mass shooting outside Pa. nightclub, police say

Several hurt in Allentown shooting

An Allentown shooting early in the morning of June 20, 2019, left "several injured," police say.Mike Nester | lehighvalleylive.com contributor

Ten people were wounded just before 2 a.m. Thursday in a shooting outside an Allentown nightclub, city police report.

Most of the victims had just left Deja Vu Nightclub at 343 Hamilton St. and were on the sidewalk, Capt. Bill Lake said.

Police responded at 1:56 a.m., Lake said. Victims were taken to area hospitals and are expected to survive, Lake said.

No one is in custody, Lake said.

Allentown shooting June 20, 2019

An Allentown shooting early in the morning of June 20, 2019, left "several injured," police say.Mike Nester | lehighvalleylive.com contributor

It was one of the worst mass shootings in recent memory in the region. Lehigh County Sheriff Joe Hanna, who worked 34 years for the Allentown Police Department, eventually rising to chief, said Thursday morning he can say with a “high degree of certainty” that there were no shootings in his tenure with the city that had that many victims. Northampton County District Attorney John Morganelli said he didn’t recall any double-digit victim counts in his 28 years in his job.

The closest would the six people wounded -- one of them died -- in the Dec. 2, 2012, shooting at the Puerto Rican Beneficial Society on East Third Street in Bethlehem, Morganelli figured. That was labeled one of the Lehigh Valley’s worst shootings.

The synagogue shooting Oct. 27 in Pittsburgh is called one of the worst mass shootings in Pennsylvania history; 11 people died and seven people, including the alleged gunman and five police officers, were wounded, according to media reports.

Lake wouldn’t go into detail on how the shooting happened early Thursday, saying he was relaying a prepared statement and may have more information later.

Allentown shooting June 20, 2019

A shooting early in the morning of June 20, 2019, left "several injured" in the 300 block of Hamilton Street in Allentown, city police report. Evidence markers were put down near the old Catch 22 Nightclub; Deja Vu Nightclub, outside of which the 10 people were shot, begins in the red brick building to the left.Mike Nester | lehighvalleylive.c

A man who answered the phone Thursday morning at the nightclub said nothing happened inside prior to the shooting and the club had no connection to the gunfire.

Evidence markers were placed outside the old Catch 22 nightclub, which is for sale and next to Deja Vu along Hamilton Street.

Earlier, Lake said he didn’t know if the shooting was tied to gunfire Tuesday night that wounded two 19-year-old city men.

Tony Rhodin may be reached at arhodin@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyRhodin. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.

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