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Police put up tape around a portion of 100 Walton St. early Thanksgiving morning after a fight that spilled out of The Bar onto the street resulted in the shooting and death and death of a 26-year-old Camillus man.

(Provided Photo | Melissa McDonald)

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Syracuse Police Chief Frank Fowler had a message for holiday revelers with conceal carry permits in light of today's early Thanksgiving morning murder.

"No one should ever bring a gun into a bar," he said.

Had 28-year-old Sangsouriyanh Maniphonh heeded that wisdom last night, perhaps a life could have been saved.

Maniphonh is accused of shooting and killing 26-year-old Jonathan Diaz in Armory Square early Thanksgiving morning. Maniphonh and Diaz, who knew each other beforehand, got into a fight at The Bar, also known as Corner Bar, at 400 S. Clinton St. around 1 a.m. Thursday, police said.

Sangsouriyanh Maniphonh

After bar staff kicked the two men out, they continued fighting in the street, police said. That's when Maniphonh fired his legally-owned and carried handgun, Fowler said. At least one bullet hit Diaz in the chest. He later died of his injuries. Maniphonh was charged with felony second-degree murder.

In a rare monologue during a press conference on the killing, Fowler encouraged bar patrons, including those with conceal-carry permits, to leave their weapons at home.

In the immediate hours or days after a homicide, Fowler often declines to answer questions about factors involved or a victim's or suspect's criminal history.

He broke from tradition Thursday to describe how two young men with clean criminal records were involved in a tragedy likely conjured by mixing guns and alcohol.

"I'm saying to you, legal or illegal, no one should bring a weapon into a bar," Fowler said. "What is the point of that? If you feel that an establishment is so dangerous where you need to carry a weapon, the wise thing is to do is, what? Don't go there! It's really that simple."

Despite Fowler's admonition, bringing a gun to a bar is legal in New York state among people with conceal carry permits. Maniphonh had one, Fowler said, and needed a clean criminal record in order to obtain one.

Fowler said both the victim and suspect did not have criminal pasts. Diaz had some traffic and vehicle violations, Fowler said, but he didn't elaborate.

"When I was talking about the criminal history ... I don't want people to think the victim in this case was some kind of gangster or person with a lengthy criminal history," Fowler said.

Fowler also shifted focus away from The Bar where the two men initially began fighting. The Bar lost its liquor license last year after a stabbing occurred there, and it was tied to a deadly hit-and-run. Fowler acknowledged The Bar's history and said it would not be overlooked by the Syracuse Police Department during its investigation.

However, he said he doesn't fault The Bar for the Thanksgiving tragedy. He noted that bar staff responded quickly to the initial argument between Maniphonh and Diaz, and sent them out through two different doors.

There was little more The Bar could do, as the fight continued and escalated to a shooting in a matter of seconds, Fowler said.

Instead, the onus is on the suspect, Fowler said.

"Our suspect in this case made some really bad choices, to show up to a bar where there is going to be alcohol and he's going to consume alcohol and he has a weapon on him, and then he decides to engage in some type of altercation not once but twice. Once they were separated, he could have gone on his merry way."

Fowler said it took an unfortunate, "perfect storm" of factors to lead to the worst possible outcome.

"Our victim decided to go out and have a good time the day before Thanksgiving. He had no way of knowing a person inside the bar would be armed with a gun. Now ... in the early hours of Thanksgiving morning, this young man has been taken away from his family."

Reporter Julie McMahon usually covers Syracuse University and Syracuse city schools. She can be reached anytime: Email | Twitter | 315-412-1992