A bartender talks with Alaska State Troopers outside the bathrooms inside the Pioneer Bar after an apparent argument ended in gunfire inside the men’s room. Further details were not immediately available. (KCAW photo by Ed Ronco)
Last updated: 10:50 a.m., 9/3/13
There were no injuries after a fight inside Sitka’s Pioneer Bar over the weekend ended with a gunshot.
The incident happened shortly after 4 p.m. on Sunday. Sitka police Lt. Barry Allen confirms a gun was fired inside the bar.
Witnesses say two men were arguing. They reported hearing what sounded like a gunshot, and then seeing a third man run out the door.
Donald Combs was with friends at the P-Bar when it happened.
“We went and walked outside the back door,” Combs said. “And as soon as we were outside the back door, we were standing there, and we heard a ‘crack!’ The door swung open, pretty close to us, and a red-headed guy ran straight down to the dock, down that ramp there. He had the gun, trying to stuff it in his pants or something, but the gun was in plain sight.”
KCAW News saw police take two men into custody. Their names were not immediately available over the holiday weekend.
Keith Widmyer, age 35, identified himself as the victim in the incident. He told KCAW he had been arguing with one of the men arrested. He said he was using the restroom when one of the other men walked in.
“I didn’t look over my shoulder. I’m going to now, forever,” Widmyer said. “He came through the door and tried to punch me. I just happened to catch it out of the corner of my eye. Caught his arm, threw him on the floor.”
Widmyer says he was cornered in the bathroom and the man pulled out a gun.
“When he pulled out the gun, I didn’t waste too much time,” Widmyer said. “I jumped over his head like a rabbit and was scrambling out the door. I made it right out here to the parking lot, and then I heard the gun go off.”
Widmyer says the man handed off the gun to someone else who removed it from the bar. Widmyer appeared uninjured, except for some cuts and scrapes on his face.
