No arrests in 'Wheels of Soul' killing

LaBrian Dale-Parker, 34, of Fredericksburg, Va., died wearing his group's colors.

He had on a jacket emblazoned with the name of his motorcycle club, "Wheels of Soul," when he was fatally wounded in a burst of gunfire inside a Summerdale bar Sunday night. Three other club members were wounded, and Dale-Parker died less than a half-hour later at Einstein Medical Center.

The motive for the gunplay inside Tangeray Tavern, 900 Pratt St., was "an argument," police said Monday.

When officers responding to a call for shots fired arrived at the scene about 6:15 p.m., they found Dale-Parker in the bar with multiple gunshot wounds.

After the shooting, from 15 to 30 bikers fled the scene, police said. Among those were the three bikers who were wounded.

The three, whose names were not released, made their way to local hospitals in private vehicles. One of them, 53, was in critical condition Monday with multiple gunshot wounds at Aria Health-Frankford Campus. Also, a 34-year-old was in stable condition at Lankenau Hospital with a gunshot wound to his right thigh, and a 42-year-old who was initially taken to Aria-Frankford was in critical condition at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital with multiple gunshot wounds.

Officials would not release any other details on the incident that broke the peace in a section of the Lower Northeast.

According to some neighbors, Tangeray Tavern, a nondescript corner bar, is not usually a gathering place for bikers.

"It's a laid-back place. You come here, you chill," said one man who gave his name only as David. "I never seen a biker here, never seen a motorcycle around here."

He had pulled up to the bar Monday morning hoping to buy beer, but found it closed. Standing outside, he expressed surprise at the news of the shooting.

A 57-year-old woman who lives just down the street from Tangeray said she heard the attack as it happened.

"I just heard a lot of gunshots," said the woman, who gave her name only as Jolene. "I just see all these bikes, like out of a movie."

She described the bar as one where fights and disturbances happen, but said it is not a biker bar. In fact, she said, she had never seen bikers there before.

"When I did go outside," she said, "they took that one guy in the ambulance, and he looked like he was dead."

Outside the bar, two thin lines of blood streaked from beneath the door. Drops of blood colored the sidewalk. Spots of broken glass dotted the window.

Efforts to reach Dale-Parker's family were not successful.

Inside the bar Monday morning, two men were cleaning up. Both declined to comment to a reporter, but one said that the bar's owner was not present.

According to city records, Tangeray is owned by Chhiv Ung. Efforts to reach him Monday were unsuccessful.

At the Wheels of Soul clubhouse on the 6100 block of Market Street in West Philadelphia, a man who said he was a club member declined to comment.

The shootout put the Wheels of Soul, a nationally active motorcycle club with a history of crime and violence, back in the spotlight.

As recently as 2013, three members of the club were shot in front of the clubhouse. And in 2011, the clubhouse was raided by federal agents when 18 club members across seven states were indicted.

The killing was one of three in Philadelphia over the weekend.

Aaron Walker, 34, was shot to death in North Philadelphia on Friday night. Benjamin Sheppard, 41, was killed Saturday afternoon.

The city has now seen 185 homicides this year, compared with 178 at this point last year.

mnussbaum@phillynews.com

@MatthewNussbaum