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Old City Lounge Owner Caught In Viral Video Pointing Gun At Man Shouting About Social Distancing Sparks Police Investigation

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- A viral video posted on Twitter appearing to show a man pointing a gun at another man in Old City has Philadelphia police investigating. Eyewitness News spoke to some people who were in the video.

It was taken Sunday on 2nd Street, right off Market Street. It's just 22 seconds long but it has caused a lot of concern on social media.

The recording begins at what appears to be a peak in tensions. It shows a man pointing a firearm at another man in an area where patrons had been enjoying outdoor drinking and dining on 2nd Street in Old City.

"I'm screaming he only has a bike lock. He's not doing anything," Liz said.

Liz is the woman seen in the video standing in front of the gun. She was protecting a man who she says, moments prior, had arrived to the area on his bike and had been shouting at diners, like herself, about social distancing.

"He kept going, he kept screaming about social distancing. That's when Jamie, the gentleman who pulled the gun, stood up and was going to initiate what I thought was a fistfight," Liz said.

The man with the beard is Jamie. He was sitting at another table.

In the video, Liz is heard pleading with Jamie that the man with the bike was only armed with a bike lock.

"The bike lock was not pulled out before the gun was pulled out and his life was not in danger," Liz said.

Jamie Atlig, owner of Infusion Lounge, believed his life and the lives of his customers were in danger. He says the man verbally threatened him, then charged across the street.

"As he's getting closer, he reaches behind his back like this, starts pulling out a metal object which at that point, thought was a gun because I saw a black handle," Atlig said.

Atlig adds that he possesses the proper permits to carry his weapon and is disappointed in the threats he has received since the video has taken off on social media.

"They are making things about racial that have nothing to do with race and that narrative and that activity needs to stop in the country," Atlig said.

Atlig explained that as a Muslim business owner, he knows what it feels like to be targeted and the color of the man's skin had nothing to do with the reaction he had.

Police say they are investigating and trying to find the man with the bike. So far, he has not reported the incident.

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