'A young man lost his life': Liquid Currency owner says he is sickened by shooting; bar formerly owned by family member of victim

Jun. 13—JOHNSTOWN, Pa. — Liquid Currency bar owner Shawn Jones said he has provided Johnstown police with surveillance video from the early morning hours of Saturday, when Caleb Beppler was fatally shot at close range just a step outside the bar.

"It was a senseless tragedy," Jones said. "I have regrets opening that bar — that's what I regret."

Jones bought the bar in 2021 from Beppler's uncle, Charles Beppler.

Jones, 49, was inches from the blast on Saturday, which he said stunned him.

Beppler and his cousin, Desmond Louder, were shot. Louder survived.

"They got shot over nothing," Jones said.

Jones said Caleb Beppler, 21, had visited Liquid Currency at 313 Second Ave. on another occasion with Louder.

Jones said he knew of their relation to Charles Beppler, whom Jones said is his friend.

Under Beppler's ownership, the establishment operated under the name Old Town Tavern. The bar closed during the COVID-19 pandemic.

'I can't imagine'

Beppler was quoted in a 2021 Tribune- Democrat story when Liquid Currency opened.

"I wanted to sell it because I couldn't find workers during the pandemic," Charles Beppler said then. "Shawn said, 'I'll take it.' "

Jones, of Johnstown, said he was a roofer by trade who transitioned to the real estate business in the early 2000s. He and his wife are raising two young daughters.

The children ate pizza at the house on Monday as Jones spoke with The Tribune- Democrat.

"I can't imagine what the (Beppler) family is going through," Jones said.

"I can't eat. I can't sleep. I have chills."

He paced around his kitchen island, not knowing what to say or perhaps even how to feel, he said.

"The only thing I want to say is — I can't do this," he said. "A young man lost his life."

The interview ended when one of his daughters asked him to play.

Jones said he now plans to sell the liquor license and pay Charles Beppler. Jones has been renting to buy, he said.

"I'm done," he said.

Johnstown City Police Sgt. Cory Adams said Jones has been cooperative with the investigation.

'People hate me'

Jones also owns S&R Realty and rents out houses in the Johnstown area.

"Before I bought that bar, I did my houses and that was it," he said. "It was quiet. ... Now people hate me for something somebody else did."

A petition has been in circulation since Caleb Beppler's death for the Pennsylvania Liquor and Control Board to force Liquid Currency to close.

People — including Caleb Beppler's family and friends — have been mourning and protesting in front of the bar on Second Avenue.

Jones said he hasn't returned to reopen Liquid Currency since the shooting.

Interviewed by The Tribune-Democrat in 2021 when Liquid Currency opened, Charles Beppler said he was impressed by the work Jones had put into the facility.

"I like it," Beppler said then. "It's nice and very clean."

Beppler had owned the bar for four years before selling it to Jones. Beppler's more established bars, which he still owns, include 3 Reds in the Hornerstown neighborhood and KC Tavern on Decker Avenue in the West End section of Johnstown.

Jones said for the feature story two years ago that he wanted Liquid Currency to be a place where people felt welcome.

Since then, there have been two shootings in the bar's vicinity. Both happened in the past year including Saturday's incident.

The other shooting occurred last March. A Pittsburgh man was charged in connection with a shooting near the bar that sent a 21-year-old man to the hospital.

'Constantly fighting'

Replaying the tragedy in his mind, Jones said he doesn't know what he could have changed.

"I don't know what's going to happen," he said. "That's why I don't want the bar anymore. People are constantly fighting and arguing, I never know what will happen."

In March, during the first recent instance of gun violence at the bar, Jones said he put a tourniquet on the wounded man while others, including the shooter, fled.

That was a night during which the bar hosted strippers. Jones said he had only been making $30 a night before he introduced them, though the city government has since enforced an ordinance prohibiting stripper performances there.

But that night last March, some people went outside and began arguing.

Jones said he went outside to see what was going on, and saw the shooter pull the trigger. People scattered while he put on the tourniquet and waited for emergency responders.

Last Saturday after 3 a.m., an argument between Caleb Beppler and another man had continued past the 2:30 a.m. closing time, Jones said.

Jones said he doesn't know what the argument was about. He said he usually watches TV behind the bar while patrons talk.

But that night, Jones spent much of the night talking with Beppler's cousin, Louder. He was interested in developing rental properties, too, Jones said. They had talked previously about the topic when he and Beppler visited on another occasion.

Jones said he noticed Beppler became upset with the man as they were speaking.

"I suggested they (Beppler and Louder) leave," Jones said. "I wasn't upset. I said they could come back another time. I was going to ask Des to take him home."

Jones said as he walked with Louder and Beppler to the door, the man who had been speaking with Beppler came up from behind them and shot Beppler and Louder at close range.

Jones said he could have been shot, too, but one of his employees pushed him out of the way and got a burn on her face from the gunpowder, he said.

He said Louder had been shot but in a nonlethal area. Two women from inside the bar tended to Beppler as police came, Jones said.

Louder, of Johnstown, has recovered and has been released from Conemaugh Memorial Medical Center. On crutches, he was present at the Sunday night vigil for his cousin.

The sound of shots came as a surprise from behind Louder and Beppler after they exited the bar on Saturday, Louder said, still at a loss for words.

"I don't know what to say — I really don't," he said.

Jones agreed that the shots were a surprise.

He said he has cooperated with police interviews as well as providing video surveillance.

Cambria County Coroner Jeffrey Lees has said an autopsy was completed on Saturday afternoon, confirming that Beppler died of a gunshot wound.

Lees said he has ruled the manner of death homicide.

Cambria County District Attorney Gregory Neugebauer said Beppler was fatally wounded and died in the street.

Neugebauer said on Saturday that as investigators search for the murder suspect, evidence reviewed at that point indicated there is no danger to the public.

Anyone with information that could assist police is asked to call the Cambria County nonemergency number at 814-472-2100.