Neighbors Outraged At Yet Another Porterhouse Shooting

Refused entry into a Queens night club/restaurant on Saturday night, three men unexpectedly opened gunfire on an open crowd, the kind of savage and unprovoked attack reminiscent of the Wendys massacre two months ago.
Unlike the bloodshed in Flushing in May, all five victims shot at the Porterhouse Grill this weekend survived. The incident began at about 3:30 a.m. when a group of men were refused entry into the club, formerly known as Shooters, where a private party of about 100 people was being held. After being turned away, the men allegedly stormed back to their van, grabbed guns, and fired at least 25 bullets into the crowd.
The first two gunmen, identified as Anwar Griffin, 17, and Luis Koonce, 21, were arrested outside the grill on 192 Street and Union Turnpike and charged with attempted murder, assault, reckless endangerment and criminal possession of a weapon.
"Two others tried to escape in a 1992 Blue Dodge van," said police spokesman Charles Larkin. "One of them was arrested and police are still searching for the other."
Sean Anderson, one of the other alleged gunman, left the area with his friend after he received a gun wound to his own hand. He drove to a nearby 7-Eleven where he used their phone to call a cab to Queens Hospital Center. He was later taken into custody.
At the scene of the crime, officers carted away more than 25 shell casings from the front of the building, yet no weapons were retrieved.
Other than Anderson the four shot were Carlos Mendez, 25, in the thigh, Thomas Davis, 26, in the left arm, Jermaine Futrell, 22, in the leg and Dawn Scott, 25, shot twice in the leg and once in the stomach. Mendez , Davis and Futrell were taken to the New York Hospital Medical Center in Queens and Scott to Mary Immaculate Hospital. All have been released except Scott, but Daphne Lawrence, a hospital spokesperson, said that she has "minimal superficial wounds."
Neighbors had complained regularly about the club, saying patrons urinate on their lawns, have sexual relations in their back yards, and constantly brawl and make noise all night long.
"I used to be a regular there, but stopped going because of the shootings," said a man, who wished to remain anonymous. "In the two years I used to go there, there were at least three shootings. The neighborhood is nice, but the element at the club is dangerous."
Andrew Ferdinandi, a supervisor of psychiatric rehabilitation at Long Island Jewish Center said that with all of the problems and complaints theyve had before, an incident such as this was bound to happen.
"This isnt the first time theyve had problems there," said a worker from The Lemon Tree on the same block. "Ive been here for 12 years and Im getting tired of hearing about the trouble caused over there. I hope they close it down now."
The bar owners had planned to close down soon but according to Anthony Mallilo, attorney for the owner, the shootings prompted them to speed up their plans, and may not open again. The owners could not be reached for comment.