Early morning brawl ends in gunshots at bar

10/27/2003

Shots were fired into the ceiling of a West Toledo bar early yesterday morning after a brawl that included some throwing of bottles, police said.

The incident occurred about 1:55 a.m. yesterday when two men described as white males in their 30s began fighting inside the Orchard Inn, 2804 West Sylvania Ave., according to police. Some of the combatants' friends joined the fight, but a barmaid was able to break up the disturbance, police said.

As three of the men began to leave the building, one stopped, grabbed an empty beer bottle, and threw it across the room. When the bottle missed its target, the man grabbed another empty bottle and hurled it, police said.

Suddenly, from behind the bottle-thrower, three shots were fired into the ceiling, according to police. The three men then drove off in a late-model white conversion van and remain at large.