DA’s office to meet club owner over shooting

The Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office plans to talk to the owners of Club Erotica, a McKees Rocks strip joint, after five people were shot — two fatally — in the parking lot early Friday.

Police quickly made two arrests later that day.

The shooting “is extremely concerning and our office will be reaching out to the owners to schedule a meeting and discuss the operation of that establishment and any impacts on public safety it is having on that business district and community,” DA’s office spokesman Mike Manko said Saturday.

Also Saturday, the county said Club Erotica might have been operating contrary to the governor’s COVID-19 orders.

“It would appear that if it were open, it is in violation of the state’s order,” county spokeswoman Amie Downs said.

The criminal complaints against the men charged with homicide indicate that, at some point before the confrontation that led to the shootings, people were inside the establishment.

“To the Health Department’s knowledge, which is the only [connection] that the county would have to the facility, Club Erotica was not in operation. It is not currently licensed as a food establishment by the health department,” Ms. Downs said.

“The facility submitted plans in October to receive a health permit, but those plans were found not to be in compliance with health regulations,” she added. “However, based upon complaints, the facility has received two cease-and-desist letters: one in September and one in November. A food safety inspector conducted a compliance check on the establishment in late December and observed that the facility was not in operation.”

McKees Rocks Mayor Jack Muhr said he did not know anything about the status of the club.

“I tell you the truth, I don’t even know if it’s open,” the mayor said. “I always thought that was one of the safest ones around.”

But Vince Isoldi, the owner, confirmed Saturday that Club Erotica is indeed open for business.

He said he has a meeting Monday with officials in the county; he said he thought it was with the DA’s office but was not sure. He took issue with the notion that the county Health Department had sent cease-and-desist letters. And he said he did not believe his business was out of compliance with any state COVID-19 orders.

Asked if the nude dancers wore masks, Mr. Isoldi said, “We make everybody put them on . ... I haven’t been down there in like a year, but they’re supposed to.”

Killed were Christopher Roy Butler, 22, of West Mifflin, and Seth Andrew McDermit, 31, of Monongahela.

Mr. McDermit’s sister-inlaw, reached Saturday by phone, declined to comment.

The shootings occurred about 2:34 a.m. Friday outside the club in the 800 block of Island Avenue.

Police found the ground littered with shell casings and five people who were shot. The two men killed were pronounced dead at the scene; the survivors — two men and a woman — were taken to a hospital.

On Friday, police arrested Charles Becher, 24, of Carnegie, and Khalil Walls, 25, of Arlington, and charged them with homicide and aggravated assault.

Mr. Becher, who was shot in the knee, told police he opened fire in self-defense as he was being assaulted and feared for his life.

County police interviewed one of the victims, who was shot in the arm, in the emergency room. He told investigators that he went to Club Erotica with Mr. McDermit, Mr. Butler and two other men. The rest of the group went outside to smoke, and when he joined them, he found them in a fight with several women, according to a criminal complaint.

One of the men with the women pulled a gun. Mr. McDemit tackled him, the victim told police, but the man’s companion drew a gun and started shooting, the complaint said.

Mr. Becher’s story to police was that he was at the strip club with friends and family along with Mr. Walls.

“Becher said everything was fine inside the bar. He said they were sitting near the stage watching the dancers when his cousin, Amanda, came into the bar and told him that someone was outside getting jumped” and two women in their party were involved.

“Becher said when he went outside there were four-five guys in the parking [lot] threatening to beat and kill them, and he said they kept saying they were in a biker gang,” according to the complaint.

Mr. Becher said he stepped between a man who was confronting one of his female cousins. The man pulled up his shirt to display a gun, prompting Mr. Becher to draw his own gun, for which he said he had a permit to carry concealed, the complaint said. He said he pushed the man but was then punched, knocked down and beaten when the gunfire began, according to the complaint.

Police said the shooting was captured on the club’s surveillance video system.

That video, police said, “clearly shows” Mr. Becher pulling a gun from his waist, pointing it at Mr. McDermit and another victim, and striking a third victim with the gun.

As the video continued, Mr. Becher lost control of the gun, dropping it. Another man then shot “in the direction of” Mr. McDermit, Mr. Butler and others.

Finally, the complaint said, Mr. Becher retrieved his gun and shot Mr. McDermit.

Police said Mr. Walls shot Mr. Butler.

“The video shows Walls backing up still pointing a gun at the group,” a complaint said. “Christopher Butler goes toward Walls in a ‘tackling’ motion and the video shows Walls shooting Butler.”

When detectives went to track down Mr. Walls at the home of the mother of his child, he had blood on his shoes, police said. After executing a search warrant at the house, detectives said they found a gun and distinctive clothing similar to what Mr. Walls was wearing during the shooting.