Group that brought a length of pipe to a Waterfront gun fight not interested in helping police find their attackers

An investigation into an argument between two groups that ended with gunfire on Fan Pier in February is "kind of at a dead end" because nobody involved wants to talk, a police detective says.

Sgt. Det. Kenneth O'Brien of District C-6 testified at a Boston Licensing Board hearing on Tuesday that an argument shortly after 2 a.m. on Feb. 27 between a group of four men and another group of six men and women escalated when one of the guys in the smaller group opened the trunk of his BMW and got out a metal pipe. But then a member of the other group trumped him by pulling out a gun and firing it three times.

Nobody was injured and everybody had fled by the time police arrived, leaving behind only three shell casings and "a single shoe," O'Brien said, adding that while police have identified some of the people involved, all have remained tight lipped.

O'Brien was before the licensing board because the larger of the groups had been inside Empire, 1 Marine Park Dr., not long before the confrontation.

On Thursday, the board decided that Empire was not to blame for the incident.

An Empire manager testified the group had consumed two bottles of champagne but had been asked to leave not long before closing when a bartender denied their request for a bottle of Hennessy and one of the men grew enraged at that and began yelling and gesticulating at the bartender and other patrons. The other people in the group restrained him, walked him out and they drove away, the manager said.

Not long after, down the street, however, they were out of the car and in a confrontation with the smaller group. The manager went out to investigate; said that when he heard the gunfire, he shouted for Empire workers and patrons to get back inside, which they did. Empire security workers then locked all the doors and kept people inside until police gave the all clear.

No evidence was presented that the group tossed from Empire had brought the gun in with them.