Tavern shooting suspect due in court

Michael J. Prater, the 36-year-old suspect charged in the Wednesday night shooting at Villa Tavern in Huber Heights, has been moved to the Montgomery County Jail, according to Montgomery County Sheriff ’s Office records.

Prater’s next court date is Monday, sheriff ’s office records indicated.

Prater was arrested late Friday by U.S. Marshals and other police agencies in Champaign County, according to Huber Heights police Sgt. Brian Carr.

Four of the felonious assault counts involve the use of a deadly weapon. Four of the felonious assault counts involve inflicting serious harm. Each of the counts includes a three-year firearm specification. That means Prater, if convicted as charged, could have three years added to any underlying sentence for each count.

Huber Heights police said the investigation so far revealed that the shooter fired multiple times into a crowd listening to a live band outside the tavern. The gunfire erupted following some kind of disturbance, investigators said.

Multiple police and medics were dispatched to the tavern, 6303 Rip Rap Road, just before 10 p.m. on Wednesday. Four people were taken to hospitals from the incident. before Markus Perry, a neighborhood resident, saw smoke coming from the home. Perry said he kicked in the front door, performed a quick search and called out to see if anyone was in the smoky house. He saw lights on upstairs, so he went up and kicked open a couple of doors.

The place was empty. He didn’t know it, but Harrison Twp. and Trotwood fire crews had been dispatched to the address on a report that someone possibly was trapped in the house.

“The whole lower floor was engulfed in smoke,” said Perry, a former Trotwood firefighter. “Nobody in there. Thank God.”