A fatal shooting at a neighborhood bar in December was more like an Old West showdown.
The bartender told police he took cover behind the counter when a man entered the Spaulding Bar in north Omaha around 8 p.m. Dec. 20 and began a violent firefight with a patron.
The bartender said he looked over the counter at one time and saw another man standing up and holding a pistol, police said.
That was enough probable cause for a Douglas County judge to order Trentelle A. Clifton to stand trial for being a prohibited person in possession of a firearm.
When police arrived at the bar at 3825 N. 30th St., the first gunman, Robert A. Nash, 39, was dead and Clifton, 35, was in critical condition, according to testimony in Douglas County Court on Tuesday.
James Shelly, 42, was also hit and in serious condition. He has not been charged with having a role in the shooting.
Several of the dozen or more bar patrons left before officers arrived, police said.
Omaha police said a 9mm bullet was found in Nash, and there were 9mm casings scattered around Clifton. A 9mm handgun found in a trash can near Clifton did not have Clifton's prints or his DNA.
Prosecutors said there were also .45- and .40-caliber bullet casings in the bar, but the firearms used to shoot those bullets were not found.
The bartender described the 9mm as the weapon he saw Clifton holding during the firefight, police said.
Nash's family members have blamed Clifton in the fatal shooting at the Spaulding Bar, which they said grew out of the August killing of Nash's brother, Devon A. Nash, 40.
Devon A. Nash was shot several times Aug. 21 near 36th Street and Patrick Avenue. He was found dead on the sidewalk about 11 p.m.
Nash's sister on Tuesday said the judge's decision to move Clifton's case to trial was "the first step to justice."
Prosecutors and police continue to investigate the Spaulding Bar shooting, said Brenda Beadle, chief deputy Douglas County attorney.
Contact the writer:
402-444-3131, sam.womack@owh.com
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