Report: Man shot at bar was breaking up a fight
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - A Portland man fatally shot at a tavern this week had been trying to break up a fight that apparently started between two women.
Robert Pfeifer, 28, a waiter who visited the bar after working Christmas night, was shot once and died at the scene - the Wetlands Public House in southeast Portland, police said.
Police arrested Lai Ngoc Thach, 21, of Portland at the bar and recovered a gun. He is scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday in Multnomah County.
"It was basically a bar fight, and one guy pulls a gun," said Officer Cathe Kent, a Portland Police Bureau spokeswoman.
About 40 people were in the bar when Pfeifer was shot early Tuesday, but many fled before police arrived. Investigators spoke with more than a dozen witnesses and are looking for others.
Pfeifer's father, Bob, said his son lived near the bar and was a regular. The elder Pfeifer, who says he spoke with the bartender Tuesday, said his son was trying to separate two women when he was shot.
"He was always there trying to break up fights," his father said. "He was just trying to do good here. But it was just the wrong place at the wrong time."
Thach, who did not know Pfeifer, is one of five children from a large family that arrived in the Pacific Northwest from Cambodia in the late 1980s, said his brother, Bihn Thach.
"It's heartbreaking to hear what happened," he told The Oregonian newspaper.
Pfeifer had worked the night shift at a Shari's Restaurant before going to the bar. Fellow employees described him as happy-go-lucky.
"They said he was always a peacemaker," said David Archer, a vice president of Shari's Restaurant. "Sounds like it got him into trouble."
Candy Woods, 28, who went to high school with Pfeifer and worked with him at Shari's, recalled one time when Pfeifer stepped between a man and a woman who were fighting and got the man to calm down.
She added that Pfeifer was known for the great massages he gave to people at work and the bar.
"He was just this big goofball you just loved," she said. "A very fun guy."
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Robert Pfeifer, 28, a waiter who visited the bar after working Christmas night, was shot once and died at the scene - the Wetlands Public House in southeast Portland, police said.
Police arrested Lai Ngoc Thach, 21, of Portland at the bar and recovered a gun. He is scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday in Multnomah County.
"It was basically a bar fight, and one guy pulls a gun," said Officer Cathe Kent, a Portland Police Bureau spokeswoman.
About 40 people were in the bar when Pfeifer was shot early Tuesday, but many fled before police arrived. Investigators spoke with more than a dozen witnesses and are looking for others.
Pfeifer's father, Bob, said his son lived near the bar and was a regular. The elder Pfeifer, who says he spoke with the bartender Tuesday, said his son was trying to separate two women when he was shot.
"He was always there trying to break up fights," his father said. "He was just trying to do good here. But it was just the wrong place at the wrong time."
Thach, who did not know Pfeifer, is one of five children from a large family that arrived in the Pacific Northwest from Cambodia in the late 1980s, said his brother, Bihn Thach.
"It's heartbreaking to hear what happened," he told The Oregonian newspaper.
Pfeifer had worked the night shift at a Shari's Restaurant before going to the bar. Fellow employees described him as happy-go-lucky.
"They said he was always a peacemaker," said David Archer, a vice president of Shari's Restaurant. "Sounds like it got him into trouble."
Candy Woods, 28, who went to high school with Pfeifer and worked with him at Shari's, recalled one time when Pfeifer stepped between a man and a woman who were fighting and got the man to calm down.
She added that Pfeifer was known for the great massages he gave to people at work and the bar.
"He was just this big goofball you just loved," she said. "A very fun guy."
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Learn about changes coming to commenting