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Scranton Neighbors Hope for Change after Deadly Shooting

SCRANTON, Pa. — Scranton police say one of the men shot on North Main Avenue in the city over the weekend has been released from the hospital. The shootin...

SCRANTON, Pa. -- Scranton police say one of the men shot on North Main Avenue in the city over the weekend has been released from the hospital.

The shooting killed one man and injured two others outside an after-hours club that neighbors say has caused problems in Scranton.

The police chief tells us that they are still investigating the shooting that happened on the 1800 block of North Main Avenue early Sunday morning.

Detectives are serving search warrants and doing interviews. An autopsy still needs to be done on the man who was killed.

In the meantime, neighbors in north Scranton are calling for changes.

It was around 5 a.m. Sunday, the after-hours night club on North Main Avenue had just closed when at least two shooters opened fire, injuring two men and killing a third.

It's the kind of scenario that would have shocked Jim Lyons nearly 40 years ago when he opened Dee Jay's Deli across the street, but it doesn't surprise him now.

"We close a little bit earlier anymore," said Lyons. "We get out of town before anything goes on."

Neighbors along North Main Avenue connect the violence to that after-hours club inside the former Castle Restaurant known as Club Vibe.

The building still has remnants of its past -- a family restaurant that was a favorite in Scranton in the 1960s and 1970s.

parker palermo

"Everybody went there. Everybody in Scranton knows the Castle Restaurant," said Lyons. "It's changed quite a bit in the last 15 years."

The shooting Sunday left Parker Palermo, 20, of Scranton, dead. The two other men who were injured have not been identified. Police say none of the three were in the club that night.

They also say there was more than one shooter. One has been identified as a security consultant for night clubs but was not working inside the club that morning.

"This is just crazy. There's no reason for it. People are losing their lives, over what?" asked neighbor Anita Argott.

Neighbors and Scranton City Council are calling for the club inside the Castle to be shut down.

Councilman Bill Gaughan and other members of council are asking the Lackawanna County district attorney to label the club a nuisance bar.

"We requested to the district attorney this afternoon in a letter that he take all necessary steps to shut the club down in the interest of public safety," Gaughan said.

When asked if the club can be shut down, officials with the district attorney's office say they will look into the possibility, but right now, their focus is on the shooting investigation.

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