Banned Patron Who Was Denied Drink Shoots NYC Bar Owner: Family

What to Know

  • The owner of El Ray De Copas was shot and wounded early Friday by a patron who had been banned for causing trouble.
  • He was taken to Jacobi Hospital with critical injuries after the shooting.
  • The gunman had been banned from the bar two years earlier for causing trouble and hasn't been arrested.

A man banned from a Bronx bar for causing trouble shot and critically wounded the establishment's owner early Friday when he was denied a drink, the victim's family and police said.

Mario Ramirez, 52, was shot in the neck and chest shortly after 1 a.m. at El Ray De Copas on White Plains Road in the Bronxdale neighborhood, according to Gustavo Ramirez, the victim's brother.

The gunman allegedly came into the bar drunk and asked for a drink. When a bartender refused to serve the man, he asked to speak to the manager.

That's when Ramirez came over, his brother said. He also refused to serve the man, who then pulled out a revolver and shot him, witnesses said.

Gustavo Ramirez said that the man — a known patron who had been banned from the bar two years ago for brandishing a fake gun — ran off down White Plains Road.

Surveillance video from outside the bar shows other customers fleeing the establishment after the shooting and running down the street. One woman holds her hands to her head in shock.

Ramirez was taken to Jacobi Hospital in critical condition and was recovering from surgery, authorities and his brother said.

"They say he is going to be OK," Gustavo Ramirez said. "Thank God."

Both brothers work at the bar. Gustavo Ramirez didn't work on the night of the shooting. He got a telephone call from the bartender about the incident.

"She was screaming, crying, saying somebody shot your brother," he said.

No arrests have been made in the case.

Anyone with information about the gunman should call the NYPD Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS.

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