A 24-year-old Binghamton man was arrested midday Wednesday after a police investigation into a shooting at Ra’Nelles Night Club and Restaurant at 73 Court St. that left two Binghamton University students and three local residents with minor, non-threatening injuries. All have been discharged from local hospitals.
The man Binghamton Police arrested was Isiah E. Tolbert of Binghamton. He faces felony charges of attempted murder, said a police spokesman, and remains in the Broome County Jail without bail.
Detectives are still seeking to question and arrest a second person suspected of being involved in the shooting, which police say began as a dispute in New York City and culminated in the violence at Ra’Nelles.
Earlier this week, Ra’Nelles and Mayor Richard Bucci announced that the Court St. bar would be closed by Dec. 1.
The Bucci administration and Ra’Nelles’s owner, Tina Archie, have butted heads in the past over how the city treats the club.
In the months before the shooting, Archie filed a lawsuit against Binghamton claiming that the police and city officials have excessively targeted the club because it is a minority-owned business.
The city denies the charges, saying that any increased police attention is a result of the reports of violence at the establishment.
The shooting Saturday night was the latest in a pattern, city officials said.
The names of the five shooting victims, all believed to be innocent bystanders, haven’t been released by city officials.
The crowd Saturday night near Court Street grew so large that Binghamton city police called their counterparts across Broome County to help clear the streets of passersbys. Two officers from BU’s campus police were among those who helped the city.