EVANSVILLE — Hand-to-hand combat erupted outside The Pony, an Evansville-based adult-entertainment bar, in late November 2023. Minutes later, with a small crowd gathered, a hail of gunfire rang out – at least 11 shots from three weapons, injuring two people.
Nearly a year after the shooting, on Wednesday evening, Evansville police arrested the man they believe was responsible for escalating the parking lot feud into a gunfight.
Court records identified him as 29-year-old Brandon Outlaw Jr., of Evansville. He faces eight felony counts, including attempted murder.
As of Thursday afternoon, Outlaw was being held without bond at the Vanderburgh County jail, where he was booked months after a judge issued a warrant for his arrest in connection with the shooting.
According to court records filed in the case, Outlaw stands accused of traveling to The Pony, a strip club located at 4820 Tecumseh Lane, and opening fire toward a crowd of people after his brother got into a fight outside the club.
Detectives wrote in the probable cause affidavit that Outlaw’s brother identified him as the shooter in multiple social media messages, which investigators obtained after submitting search warrants to Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram.
The affidavit details portions of the EPD’s investigation and what they believe happened outside The Pony during an incident that was at least partially captured by surveillance cameras.
‘Talking crazy’ — How a fight escalated outside The Pony
Dispatchers directed Evansville police to The Pony around 3:45 a.m. on Nov. 25, 2023, after multiple 911 callers reported hearing gunfire. EPD Officer Robert Morrow arrived on scene about two minutes later. According to court records, he located multiple spent, 9mm shell casings near the front door and parking lot of the nightclub, but any victims had already fled the area.
Witnesses did not immediately come forward.
Within about 15 minutes, Ascension Saint Vincent personnel told police that a victim suffering from a gunshot wound had arrived at the emergency room in a personal vehicle. At the hospital, investigators said they found a woman whose left thigh appeared to have been grazed by a bullet.
“As I spoke to (the victim), she appeared to be in substantial pain, as expected after being shot,” Detective Nicholas Hackworth wrote in the affidavit.
During an interview several days after the shooting, the victim told police that she was shot after a fight broke out between Outlaw’s brother and another man, whom the Courier & Press is not naming. Outlaw’s brother had drunkenly started “talking crazy” to the man, instigating a confrontation, the woman reportedly said. A small crowd of people had gathered in the area.
Outlaw learned of the then-ongoing fight because he was on a video call with his brother at the time, the police believe. According to messages Outlaw’s brother is reported to have sent in November and December 2023, police believe he may have suffered a broken jaw during the altercation.
Several minutes after the fight broke out, Outlaw is alleged to have arrived outside The Pony in a distinctive Dodge Challenger. The sedan, as described to the police and as captured in surveillance footage, bore decals depicting Godzilla.
“The Dodge parked in the street in front of the business,” Hackworth wrote, detailing what the footage showed. “Seconds later, a silhouette of a person pointing what appears to be a handgun with one hand is visible coming from the driver’s side of the Dodge.”
According to investigators, the gunman was Outlaw, who then allegedly began to move north toward The Pony’s parking lot where the small crowd had gathered. Surveillance footage showed people fleeing the area as Outlaw allegedly moved toward them, a handgun outstretched and aimed their direction, police said.
The man Outlaw’s brother had fought minutes earlier began to run, his cellphone dropping from his pocket, Hackworth described the footage showing. Two other men could be seen following behind him, one of them pointing a handgun back toward Outlaw.
“The shooter from the Dodge is then visible tracking and pursuing (the man) back toward Tecumseh Lane, still pointing the handgun at him,” Hackworth wrote. “The muzzle flash from at least one shot is visible as the shooter appears to still be shooting at the man. (Outlaw’s brother) is a few steps behind the shooter and is moving in the same direction; he does not seem to see the shooter from the Dodge as a threat to him.”
A surveillance camera affixed to a nearby hotel captured a man running away from Outlaw and into the hotel lobby, where he is pursued no further, according to detectives. But he had already been shot.
“(The man) pulls his pants down a couple of times in the hotel lobby to examine his wound,” Hackworth wrote. “The shooter is visible running behind the Dodge and getting inside the car before it quickly drives away…”
The Indiana State Police analyzed shell casings recovered from the scene and reportedly linked the casings to three 9mm handguns. The affidavit filed in Outlaw’s case doesn’t specify how many shots he is alleged to have fired, or how many shots could have been fired at him.
Investigation leveraged license-plate reading cameras, social media messages
A review of Flock Safety license-plate reading cameras furthered the subsequent investigation, according to court records. Hackworth wrote in an affidavit that he searched Flock’s system for vehicles bearing a resemblance to the Dodge Challenger seen on video and described by a witness. Hackworth said he got a hit.
“I located a burgundy 2014 Dodge Challenger with large Godzilla decals and text on both rear sides of the vehicle,” the affidavit sates.
The vehicle’s personalized license plate bore the inscription “#LEZILLA,” according to Department of Motor Vehicle records. The sedan was not registered to Outlaw, but its ownership traced to an Evansville man who bore a possible connection to him, the police found.
A review of public Facebook profiles showed that both the Dodge’s registered owner and Outlaw listed their professions as relating to the “breeding and/or showing of Bulldogs,” Hackworth wrote. And while the Flock cameras hinted at a tenuous connection between Outlaw and the vehicle, a review of private social media messages would directly link Outlaw to the shooting, police allege.
In December 2023, Meta produced records for a collection of user accounts the EPD had requested to obtain pursuant to a search warrant. Those records, according to the police, included outgoing messages that Outlaw’s brother sent to several individuals in the days after the shooting.
“Nice popped him,” the brother sent in a message on Nov. 26, 2023, referring to a nickname police said Outlaw was known to use. “My brother shot em (sic),” a portion of another message sent on Dec. 1, 2023, stated. Hackworth listed six such messages Outlaw’s brother reportedly sent between Nov. 25 and Dec. 1, 2023 in an affidavit.
“Based on the information available to me, I believe the evidence in this case shows that Outlaw was notified of the altercation involving (his brother) and (the man) that had just occurred outside The Pony,” Hackworth wrote. “Outlaw then drove to The Pony with the premeditated intention of shooting (the man).”
Court records detail history of firearm offenses
The Vanderburgh County Prosecutor’s Office filed eight charges against Outlaw for the shooting outside The Pony:
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Attempted murder, a Level 1 felony
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Unlawful possession of a handgun by a serious violent felon, a Level 4 felony
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Unlawful carrying of a handgun with a prior felony conviction in the last 15 years, a Level 5 felony
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Two counts of battery with a deadly weapon, a Level 5 felony
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Two counts of battery resulting in moderate bodily injury, a Level 6 felony
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Criminal recklessness committed with a deadly weapon, a Level 6 felony
According to court records, Boonville-based attorneys Mark and Rob Phillips represent Outlaw. Reached by text message on Thursday, Mark Phillips said he could not comment on the case “at this point.”
Outlaw’s counsel filed a motion for discovery, and so have prosecutors. Vanderburgh County Superior Court Judge Robert J. Pigman imposed a no-contact order between Outlaw and the “alleged victims,” a docket entry states.
The parties are scheduled to meet for a review hearing on Nov. 4.
Houston may be contacted at houston.harwood@courierpress.com
This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Evansville police make arrest in 2023 The Pony nightclub shooting
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