Late night shooting cracks window outside of Pittsfield lounge
Pittsfield police are investigating a shooting that took place early Friday morning just outside the entrance to Muddy McGee's restaurant and lounge, which is located in the Berkshire Common, the same block that houses the Crowne Plaza hotel. Although details are sketchy, the shooting -- witnesses report hearing just one shot -- took place around 1:30 a.m., as the bar was closing, and left a large bullet hole and cracked glass in a storefront near the restaurant entry. About 30 people were in the bar when the shooting took place. There were no reports of injuries related to the shooting.
Witnesses inside the lounge said they heard a loud report at about 1:30 a.m., then a staff member shouted for patrons to leave, music was turned off and lights were turned up. Nearly 20 minutes later, however, no police were on the scene and it is not clear if they were immediately called.
On Friday, Muddy McGee's manager Nick Boulas said that the restaurant and lounge has a "good clientele" and that the shooting was not necessarily related to patrons. Boulas said, however, that immediate policy changes will be made, in cooperation with suggestions from the police department.
The policy changes include initiation of a dress code and removal of two pool tables inside the lounge, that Boulas said would be immediately taken out.
The dress code, Boulas added, will include "no baggy pants and no baggy coats."
"[The police department's] belief is that kind of clothing is easy to conceal weapons in, so we're also doing away with that," he added.
On Friday, police officers at the desk would not immediately comment on the incident. Shortly after the shooting took place, however, a police dispatcher said that the incident was being investigated - although he expressed surprise that patrons, rather than the bar management, had apparently reported the shooting.
Boulas said that the bar has had "no problems" previously, such as fights. The lounge generally draws an "executive" clientele, he said.
"There really hasn't been a roughneck kind of crowd," he said. "We've noticed, late night, that some of that crowd is starting to come in. We attribute it to these pool tables so they're coming out today."
The policy changes, Boulas added, are proactive measures.
"We're just taking these precautionary measures just to keep it safe," he said. "It's been a safe bar and it will continue to be a safe bar. This kind of thing is a little too close to home. Even though it didn't happen in the bar, it's a little too close to home. "
