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Springfield police are investigating the city's 12th homicide of the year - a man who was shot to death at Duck's Place, a bar at 1146 State St., a bar in the city's Bay neighborhood.

(Conor Berry I The Republican)

This is an updated version of stories posted at 4:15 this morning and 2:07 this afternoon.

SPRINGFIELD – A 24-year-old Holyoke man was shot to death early Thursday at Duck's Place, a State Street bar that has only been in business for a few months but has a long an troubled history under previous owners.

The man, who identity was not being released Thursday evening until police could notify his family, was shot multiple times at the bar which is located at 1146 State St. in the city's Bay neighborhood.

The death marks the city's 12th homicide of the year, and the second in two weeks since the July 4 shooting death of 19-year-old Tyshianna Atkins at 60 Federal Street. Police arrested Atkin's boyfriend, 22-year-old Terrance Brown, and charged him with murder.

There were 12 homicides in Springfield in 2012.

The shooting was reported just after midnight Thursday.

According to officer Charles Youmans, aide to Police Commissioner William Fitchet, detectives have determined a fight took place at the outdoor patio at the bar and at some point someone drew a gun and opened fire.

The victim was hit multiple times. He was rushed to Baystate Medical Center where he was pronounced dead.

Police issued a limited description of the suspect based on witness accounts that described the suspect as a heavy man wearing a baseball cap, white T-shirt and jeans. No details regarding the suspect’s age or race were disclosed by police.

Police are asking anyone with information to call detectives at (413) 787-6355. Anonymous text-message tips may be sent to CRIMES (274637), with the body of the message beginning with the word SOLVE.

The entrance to Duck's Place on State Street, the scene of a shooting death early Thursday.

Youmans said police have a suspect in mind but as of Thursday afternoon there have been no arrests.

Duck’s Place has been in business for three months. The bar at the corner of Austin Streets, had previously operated under a number of names, including The Café, The Hideaway, and most notoriously as the Charm Cafe.

The Charm Café closed in 2004 when its liquor license was revoked for repeated incidents involving drugs, violence and liquor law violations. The bar's somewhat ironic motto - "There's no harm at The Charm" - is still recalled by longtime city residents.

Almost 22 years ago, the site was the scene of another homicide.

On Aug. 3, 1991, Patrick Sheklude, was shot and killed inside the Charm Café while watching another patron play a video game. The investigation is hampered by the fact that despite the presence of roughly 50 patrons in the bar at the time of the shooting, few witnesses come forward. Two men are eventually charged, with one convicted of manslaughter and another convicted of second-degree murder.

In the years that followed, there were repeated episodes of violence, drug arrests, and in 2001, the Charm was caught up in a federal sweep in which 40 area bars were found to be running illegal gambling machines.

On Aug. 12, 2004, the license commission voted 5-0 to revoke the Charm Café’s license to operate. Just weeks prior to the vote, the bar's promotions and security manager testified before the commission that "I know I consider it a successful night when I get home alive. I know that neighborhood is completely and totally out of control."

The bar reopened under new manager in 2006 as the Hideaway Lounge, but familiar problems were soon out in the open. On Dec. 2, 2006, two men were wounded in a double shooting inside the bar, leading the owner to fire all workers who were on duty at the time.

At Thursday's meeting of the License Commission, the bar's owner James Bennett Sr. and his son James Bennett Jr. agreed to temporarily suspend its license to operate until at least Aug. 1 while the commission considers two complaints against the bar that were unrelated to the recent shooting.

The hearing was scheduled for Thursday night previously, but the Bennetts requested a postponement because their lawyer was unable to attend. The commission agreed to the postponement providing the bar voluntarily gave up its license to operate in the meantime.

In those complaints, the bar was reported to police for a April 26 incident where a bar employee brandished a handgun and fired a warning shot in the air at a man who had broken into his car, and a May 5 incident where the bar was found to be open at 2:30 a.m., well past the mandatory 1 a.m. closing.

In the the April 26 incident, the bar employee Anthony Pearson, who had a proper license to carry a firearm, was charged with discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a dwelling and assault with a dangerous weapon.

The board is scheduled to convene a hearing on the two incidents on Aug. 1.

Commission Chairman Peter Sygnator said the commission is for now concerned with the April 26 and May 5 complaints, not Thursday's shooting. The commission will address that issue once it receives a report on the homicide from the Springfield police, and that could take some time, he said.

Following the License Commission hearing, James Bennett Jr. said the shooting was unfortunate but not anything the owners and management of the bar could have prevented.

He said in the three months that Duck’s Place has been open, they have tried to make it a friendly and inviting neighborhood tavern. They’ve worked hard to rehab the bar, to clean it up and to build an outdoor patio area in an attempt to cover up the location’s troubled reputation.

In the end, he conceded, “it’s a tough neighborhood.”

In the hours prior to the shooting, Duck’s Place staged a fish fry and a karaoke night, and everything was running smoothly, he said.

And then shots rang out, he said. “No one could have seen it coming, he said.

Bennett said he believes the shooting death at the property does not bode well for future of Duck’s Place. He said when the commission addresses the bar’s two recent violations and Thursday’s homicide, it is almost certain the location’s checkered past going back 20 years to the days of the Charm Cafe will be taken into account.

Overcoming the troubled reputation of the Charm “is a very hard road to travel down,” he said. They have tried over the past three months but with the shooting, he said, “we ran right into a roadblock.”