Man, 21, who shot, killed 2 outside of Steam in Upper Southampton will not be charged
The 21-year-old man who shot and killed two outside Steam Food and Pub will not be charged, the Bucks County District Attorney announced Thursday.
"These people were jumping me," Liam Hughes said to a 911 dispatcher that night. "I just shot three people."
Hughes, of Middletown, was acting in self defense, DA Matt Weintraub said at an afternoon news conference as he gave an update on the investigation on the Oct. 7 double fatal shooting. The men who were killed were fighting Hughes outside his car and he warned them he had the weapon before he fired, Weintraub said.
He had a permit to legally have the gun.
A Philadelphia man who was not shot, however, has been charged for assaulting Hughes that night, according to authorities. On Thursday, Upper Southampton police and Bucks County Detectives filed a charge of misdemeanor simple assault against Michael Michell, 24, for an alleged assault that led to Hughes fatally shooting two other men.
Weintraub said Hughes fatally shot two men, Steven A. Panebianco, 30, of Bensalem, and Raymond A. Farrell IV, 28, of Philadelphia, and injured a third outside Steam Food and Pub in the 600 block of Second Street Pike at about 11:30 p.m. Oct. 7.
Weintraub said he believed the third man, Richard Bowman, was trying to pull the attackers off of Hughes.
Assault outside bar leads to shooting
Weintraub showed video surveillance footage from the parking lot that showed the incident as it occurred.
The DA said Hughes and a friend were going to their vehicle parked in the lot. The car was parked next to Farrell's car, and Farrell's group, which included Panebianco and Michell, were near Hughes' car.
When Hughes got to his car Michell was leaning on it. Hughes asked Michell to stop leaning on his vehicle, which he did.
Hughes briefly left as his friend talked to some women who were with Farrell's group. His friend got into Hughes' passenger seat and Hughes returns and finds Farrell leaning on his car, according to the DA.
A woman with Farrell pushed him out of the way while Hughes opened the driver's side door. Farrell approached him in an "aggressive stance," and Panebianco walked up behind Farrell and threw the first punch on Hughes, Weintraub said.
The DA said Farrell then "pummeled" Hughes, prompting Hughes' friend to get out of the vehicle and try to help him. Panebianco punched Hughes' friend in the head four or five times. The friend ran into the bar to get security.
Farrell and Hughes then got on the ground. Hughes was trying to get into his vehicle while Farrell was pulling him out, the DA said.
Michell, he said, came over and punched Hughes four or five times while this was happening.
Bowman then came into the space between the two vehicles and appeared to try to pull Farrell away, according to Weintraub. Hughes then warned the men that he had a weapon and would use it, but no one left.
Hughes reached his gun, which was between his seat and the center console, and fired eight times.
Weintraub said, contrary to rumors, Hughes did not "empty his gun," into the men.
"He did not seek out anybody else to hunt down and kill," he said. "Nothing of the sort occurred."
Farrell dropped where he was, and the other two men stumbled back before falling down.
Farrell was shot four times in the torso. Panebianco was shot in the back and the right thigh. Both died from the injuries. Bowman was shot once in the right forearm.
In a recording played Thursday, Hughes can be heard calling 911 immediately after the shooting, claiming that he was jumped.
Hughes told the dispatcher that the men were going to urinate on his car, and he told them not to, prompting them to "jump" him.
"They are on the ground bleeding," he said. "I need a medical team right now."
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Investigation leads to no charges for Hughes
Weintraub said Hughes, a Neshaminy High School graduate who lives in Middletown, has been a military reservist for more than three years and has a valid concealed weapons permit.
Hughes is 5-foot-6, 140 pounds, and is "considerably smaller," than Farrell, Panebianco and Michell, according to the DA. He suffered various injuries, including a concussion, blurry vision, split lip, bruising to his forehead and the right side of his head and scalp, and a bloody nose. Additionally, there was no alcohol in his blood when the incident happened.
He had ingested marijuana the day before the incident, which was found in his blood, but there was no impairment when he shot the men, Weintraub said.
Hughes, the DA said, called 911 within a minute of the shooting, and remained cooperative with police throughout the investigation.
He reasonably believed he had to use deadly force in order to protect himself from what he perceived as serious injury or death, Weintraub said.
There was no clear evidence that Bowman was assaulting Hughes, however the DA said because Hughes was justified in using deadly force to defend himself, he may not be prosecuted for injuries or death that he inflicted on other assailants or bystanders.
Bowman, the DA said, appeared to be trying to diffuse the situation.
"He is never seen throwing punches at anyone," he said.
While the DA determined Hughes should not be charged in the incident, he did find there was no legal justification for Michell to assault Hughes. He said had Panebianco and Farrell survived the shooting, they would have faced similar offenses.
The DA said he met with the Panebianco family to explain his reasoning, but the Farrell family did not wish to meet with him. He expressed condolences for their loss.
"Raymond Farrell and Steven Panebianco's deaths were not necessary," he said. "They did not deserve to die."
Bowman, who was taken to a nearby hospital after the shooting, is recovering from his injury and will not be charged, the DA said.
Michell was sent a summons on his offense, and his preliminary hearing is scheduled for Dec. 1. He did not have an attorney listed for him Thursday.
This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Man, 21, who shot, killed 2 outside of Steam in Upper Southampton will not be charged
