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Charge filed against off-duty officer accused of fatally shooting longtime friend

PITTSBURGH — One charge of criminal homicide was filed Monday afternoon against an off-duty police officer accused of shooting and killing a longtime friend in Bloomfield over the weekend.

Channel 11’s Lori Houy reported that 56-year-old Shawn Evans was shot and killed early Sunday morning inside Condrin Tavern.

Pittsburgh police said Kenneth Farnan, an off-duty officer who’s been on worker’s compensation since 2010, was charged in the shooting.

According to the criminal complaint, the two men were drinking together at the bar when they got into a fight. The complaint said people in the bar said they heard Evans yell, “You bit me.”

The complaint said the two men began fighting for a second time, and witnesses then reported hearing five to seven shots.

Bar patrons reported that the bar filled with smoke from the shots, the complaint said.

According to the complaint, Farnan then put the gun on the bar and sat back on his barstool.

The complaint said Evans died from multiple gunshot wounds to his torso.

“He was a very good man. He was a truck driver and a mechanic. He loved us,” Evans’ wife Norma Condrin said.

Norma said several off-duty police officers were attending a retirement party at the bar when the shooting happened.

“It’s hard. It’s really hard. I just don’t know how anybody could live with shooting somebody,” Evans’ daughter Keirsten Evans said.

People who knew the men said they were friends for nearly 30 years.

Neighbor Adrian Cooper said Evans lived near the bar and wants the off-duty officer held accountable.

“Why would someone shoot someone if they were a friend,” Cooper said.

Houy reported Monday that Condrin Tavern is owned by Evans’ wife’s family. Many of his family members live nearby.

“He was a good person. People in the street are taking his death pretty hard,” neighbor Sean Lukacs said.