Antwaiin Lawson, a 37-year-old Black/African American male from Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, was killed in the early morning hours of Sunday, April 15, 2018, after gunfire broke out outside Swingers Lounge on 5th Avenue in Aliquippa. Police were called to the area around 1:00 a.m. after reports of shots fired, and Lawson was found with a gunshot wound to the head. The Beaver County Coroner’s Office identified him as the victim, determined that he died from the head wound, and ruled his death a homicide.
The shooting appeared to grow out of a confrontation that had been building inside or around the bar. Reports said Lawson had been at Swingers Lounge when he got into a verbal argument with another man. The bar’s owner described the tension as connected to a situation from the night before and said Lawson had exchanged words with some men near the back of the business. A doorman reportedly told Lawson it would be best for him to leave, and Lawson did leave for a time, but he returned roughly a half hour later.
After Lawson came back, the confrontation turned deadly. Multiple shots were fired outside the lounge, and people inside heard the gunfire before realizing someone had been shot. Lawson was struck in the head and was pronounced dead at the scene. The killing shook those connected to the business, with the owner saying he knew Lawson’s family and describing him as a good person, while also expressing disbelief that a dispute near the bar had ended in a homicide.
Aliquippa police said they were looking for help from the public to identify the shooter, but early reports did not provide the suspect’s name or even a detailed description. The gunman was described only as another man involved in the argument, and police had not released additional identifying information at the time of the initial coverage. Beaver County Radio reported the day after the shooting that the gunman was still on the loose.
No publicly available reporting found in the online sources reviewed identified an arrest, named suspect, criminal charges, trial, plea, or conviction in Lawson’s killing. The available reports leave the case as a homicide investigation in which Lawson was fatally shot outside Swingers Lounge after a verbal dispute, while authorities sought information from the public about who fired the shots.
