He was inches away from the gunfire at the Logan House as the Halloween Loop ended
Ryan Cormier
A Wilmington man who was at Kelly's Logan House when gunfire erupted early Sunday morning told The News Journal he knew the gunshots were loud, but didn't realize they were fired only inches away.
The attorney, who didn't want to be identified, was outside in front of the bar as the costumed crowd at the 39th annual Halloween Loop was leaving after last call.
When a fight broke out, he snapped a few photos and accidentally began taking video on his phone.
That's when three gunshots exploded in his ears. He knew he was close, but didn't realize how close.
After he moved a few feet away, standing in front of the man now charged in connection with the incident, he watched as Logan House security immediately swarmed New Castle resident Tyler Vega.
"Yo, one of ya'll did it," a member of the security team said while rushing the area.
"Not me," the attorney says in the video, which starts with the sound of the final gunshot. "I don't have a gun."
Soon, Vega was on the ground thanks to the quick action of the bar's 15-member security team working that night, soon followed by police. Bar security also fought off other men who began pulling bouncers off Vega.
Afterward, the attorney looked down to find bullet casings at his feet.
No one was injured by the gunfire and Vega, 25, was charged with possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony and six other gun violations, including possession of a firearm by a person prohibited.
The witness said he was more confused than scared when the gunshots rang out and thanked the bar's security for quickly subduing the man now sitting in prison on $100,000 cash bail.
"I want to thank that bouncer. He saw the guy with the gun and ran right toward him," he said. "I didn't realize the guy right next to me had a gun in his hand.
"I really have to give them credit for running right toward this guy instead of away after the sound of gunfire. They probably kept people from getting hurt because he could have pulled his gun out again. A lot of people would try to run away. I tried to get behind someone — I just didn't know it was the shooter."
[After report of gunshots, Kelly's Logan House resigns from Wilmington Halloween Loop]
The man who first reached Vega was actually a former Logan House bouncer who was at the bar as a patron.
That man says he heard the gunfire and saw Vega fumbling with a gun near his waistband.
"I just acted. He wasn't looking in my direction, so I knew he didn't see me coming. If the gun was waving around or pointed at people, I probably would have run the other way," said the man, who didn't want to be identified due to threats.
He soon had Vega on the ground and an on-duty security worker joined in the apprehension. That bouncer also did not want to be identified due to threats made on social media.
He told The News Journal that a friend of Vega's was fighting and surrounded by security when the gun fired only a few feet away from them.
He said Vega was under the awning near the building when the shots were fired, adding that Vega then tried to jump a small fence onto the patio before the security team took him down.
"The gun must have have fell out because it was at my foot and I slid it out of the way," the bouncer said. "In the video you can see [Vega's] friends pulling security off the pile. I didn't want one of them to grab the gun and disappear."
"We just wanted to keep everybody safe. My guys did a great job."
He said the Logan House gave police its security footage, which shows the patio and the gunfire.
In the wake of the gunfire, Logan House resigned from the Halloween Loop.
"We wish the Halloween Loop all the best, but we will no longer be a part of it," Michael P. Kelly, the bar's chief operating officer, wrote in a statement.
Joe Mujica, Logan House's general manager, said he is meeting with his security team this week to determine if there should be any changes made for the future. He says he had 15 bouncers working that night, as well as three barbacks who also work as bouncers on other nights.
He was at the entrance when the gunshots rang out and saw his team in action, firsthand.
"They were able to jump on him right away before it could have escalated into anything more," Mujica said. "They went above and beyond to make sure our staff and patrons were all safe. Some people might run in those moments, but they didn't."
While the Wilmington attorney who was standing next to Vega said he won't attend another Halloween Loop — he hadn't been to one in five years and was only at the Logan House to meet a friend — he added that he isn't scared away from the historic, 154-year-old bar.
Previous problems
Concerns over the large crowds that descend on Trolley Square for the Halloween Loop are nothing new.
[Reports of gunfire, fighting at closing time on Trolley Square Halloween Loop]
[New Castle man arrested after gunfire, fighting on Trolley Square Halloween Loop]
In 2014, every Trolley Square-area bar pulled out of Wilmington's Halloween Loop due to concerns about overcrowding and the potential for danger.
The one-year boycott came after crowds clogged both the bars and the streets, creating an unsettling scene.
"At times, you kind of felt like you were sitting on top of a volcano waiting for it to erupt," Joe McCoy, owner of Catherine Rooney's, one of the neighborhood's biggest and most popular bars, said at the time. "It wasn't a good feeling."
The volcano erupted four years later across Delaware Avenue at Kelly's Logan House in the Halloween Loop's 39th year.
Last year's Halloween Loop marked a major change in the event's formula.
Loop organizer and Out & About magazine publisher Jerry DuPhily decided to ditch the 14 school buses that crisscrossed the city, bringing revelers to bars in the city's Trolley Square, Riverfront and downtown areas.
Loop-goers received a $3 discount for the rideshare service Lyft instead. After the Loop, organizers said 212 of the 1,500 codes that were distributed were used.
The decision to get rid of the buses helped "complete the loop," he told The News Journal at the time, adding that even with buses, some of the loop's thousands of bar-hoppers still drove home at the end of the night.
[Buses out, Lyft in for Wilmington's 38th Halloween Loop]
[Loop partiers used only 212 Lyft discounts for Halloween]
After the buses were eliminated, DuPhily countered criticism from loop-goers who pronounced that the Halloween Loop was dead by stressing it was the most responsible decision he could make from a safety standpoint.
"I'm very, very happy with our decision. We tried to make a decision that was a responsible one," he said at the time.
DuPhily will now meet with city officials and Wilmington Police to determine the fate of the Halloween Loop, which would turn 40 next year. The event, which dates back to 1979, drew 3,500 people in 2017, a 12 percent decrease from the prior year.
Wilmington Mayor Michael Purzycki's deputy chief of staff for policy and communications, John Rago, said in a statement that the city supports the event’s return next year.
“It is very disturbing that one person’s actions can cast doubts on the future of an annual event that has been as popular, well-attended and non-eventful as this one,” he said. “However, what happened over the weekend gives everyone a chance to review the circumstances and determine the best way to move forward.
Only 10 bars participated in the Halloween Loop this year: Catherine Rooney’s, Chelsea Tavern, Dead Presidents, Ernest & Scott, Gallucio’s Cafe, Grotto Pizza, Kelly’s Logan House, Timothy’s Riverfront, Trolley Square Oyster House and Trolley Tap House.
The number of participating bars has steadily declined in recent years, from 23 in 2011 to 10 this year, the lowest number in recent memory.
In 2014, when Trolley Square bars didn't participate, four bars hosted their own smaller scale bar crawl the weekend before the Halloween Loop.
Logan House, Catherine Rooney's, Añejo Mexican Grill and Tequila Bar and Satsuma Asian Kitchen & Bar — now Trolley Square Oyster Bar — were behind the one-time Trolley Square Pub Crawl.
In 2013, a large police presence, including Wilmington police's Mobile Field Force and state police reinforcements, watched as the line to some clubs stretched down Delaware Avenue. There was a two-hour wait at Kelly's Logan House at one point as about 30 Wilmington police officers and state troopers patrolled the area.
Jacqueline Marie Singles, a Wilmington woman who posted video of the fight and gunfire, said she will return to the Logan House in the future, but thinks they should pat-down customers on big event nights to ensure no one gets inside with a gun.
"Once the shots were fired, I just ran," she said. "It was pretty scary. In such a crowded area, I didn't know if more people had guns."
Jeanne Kuang contributed to this report. Contact Ryan Cormier of The News Journal at rcormier@delawareonline.com or (302) 324-2863. Follow him on Facebook (@ryancormier), Twitter (@ryancormier) and Instagram (@ryancormier).
PARTICIPATING HALLOWEEN LOOP BARS OVER THE YEARS
2018: 10
2017: 12
2016: 13
2015: 13
2014: 13
2013: 15
2012: 16
2011: 23