15211.org

Thanks for posting this. I was just about to do the same.

I'm sure this [the suspect being only 15 years old] will open a whole new can of worms on here as to the controversy over shutting down Sonny's for not being responsible/respectable bar owners…rightfuly so I suppose.

I'll just add my 2cents and say I don't know how a 15 year old slipped through the doors. I was asked for I.D. every time I went there, even though I was of age, and there with friends of employees most of the time.

ih8lakeontario said:

Before we even talk about how a 15 year old got in there, how about we just pause for a moment and think about what we were doing at 15. Maybe I'm sheltered because I grew up in the suburbs, but it absolutley terrifies me that a 15 year old is a suspect. The only thing I cared about at 15 years old was geting my learners permit to drive a car.

It is because you grew up in the suburbs.

I'm a Mt. Wash resident but work at recording studio in Lawrenceville. I produce a lot of beats for up-and-coming local rappers and deal with alot of troubled kids. The rappers themselves are the friendliest guys on the planet. The clean up their block, they go to church every Sunday, they tell their mothers they love them when they get a phone call…and they also carry a gun. The harsh reality is that the majority of these kids want to get out of their situation and their Section 8 housing, but their living situation forces them to grow up quickly and do careless things in the name of keeping themselves and their families safe.

I'm certainly not trying to justify this boy's situation, but I'm just telling you how it is.

As for Sonny's, everybody up here knows the place is shady. Last time I went in there for a drink, I got up to go to the restroom and witnessed a crack deal go down right in front of me. It may close because of this shooting, but another bar just like it will open up or the cats from there will go to another place up here (I'd put my money on Satilio's on Bailey).

Yes I agree, I think that calling out other establishments as potential nuisance bars after Sonny's closes is irresponsible, no one knows what will happen. The landlord of Sonny's is listening to this conversation and hopefully will do the right thing and not renew their lease and then really make sure a responsible person opens something better in that space.

It's up to the owners of these bars to keep out the riff raff, simple as that. Which is why I hold the owners of Sonny's responsible for the type of clientele they let into that place. ie - a 15 year old murderer and crack dealers (as stated above) and shady people from all over the Burgh.

It looks like they are painting the outside and getting new awnings. Is it a veiled attempt to shut us up and show they are trying to “change” … ??? maybe, but they need to know that the neighborhood is watching their every move and hopefully Sonny's or whatever it's called in the future will be shut down because as much as they would like us to think it, it's not going to change on the inside. We don't need it in Mt. Washington.

Esus, I agree. While I don't really care so much about poker machines, the bar is almost unbearable. There seems to be a lot of extremely drunk people that are very, very, vulgar. And believe me, I'm no prude when it comes to bar language. It's just so bad that I won't go back anymore. It's a shame because they have such a nice view and it could really be a nice neighborhood pub.

If they lost customers, and therefore money, they would adjust their business practices. With the regulars at the bar pretty much a guarantee, they aren't forced to make changes. They supposedly made some changes recently to the dining room and the menu.

MG