Victim identified in bar shooting
MONESSEN – Jonathan Wheaton and others reportedly went to a Monessen bar last month to confront members of the Majors family, intending to start a fistfight with them.
Wheaton told Monessen police he walked over to a table in Chateau Lounge and punched a man before hearing a gunshot and falling to the floor, then realizing he had been shot in the abdomen, according to court records.
His statements about the Jan. 27 shooting led to the Friday arrest of Tyler Majors, 24, as the suspected gunman in the 11:35 p.m. shooting in the bar at 143 Donner Ave., according to the affidavit supporting the criminal charges in the case.
Majors, of 723 Ninth St., Monessen, and formerly of Detroit, Mich., is in Westmoreland County jail on $100,000 bond set by District Judge Michael R. Mahady. He is charged with attempted homicide, aggravated assault, reckless endangerment and illegal possession of a firearm.
Police did not reveal a motive for the bar fight, which was captured on video surveillance and allegedly shows Majors with a semiautomatic pistol in his hand.
Wheaton, of Monessen, said a fight broke out with members of the Majors family and “whoever else came in” after he threw the first punch, court records indicate.
Police found chairs thrown about the bar after investigators arrived and also discovered blood on the floor, clothing, a firearm and spent shell casings, the affidavit states.
Officers were on patrol in the area of the bar at the time of the shooting, and they stopped to investigate after seeing a large crowd spilling out of its front door. Wheaton was found lying on his back in the street.
He was taken by ambulance to Allegheny General Hospital, Pittsburgh, where he underwent surgery to remove the bullet, which has been recovered by police. He has since been released from AGH, a hospital spokeswoman said Monday.
Majors is scheduled for a preliminary hearing at 10 a.m. Feb. 17 before District Judge Joseph Dalfonso.