Owner fears a repeat of bar's violent past

Fifteen years ago, Adriano Barros threw Michael Hardy out of his Dorchester liquor store for harassing a female customer. Hardy returned 10 minutes later, showed Barros a .45 caliber gun, and vowed revenge. Late that night in June, as Barros was closing his store, Hardy fulfilled his promise and shot the 46-year-old father of three in the head, killing him.

When Hardy confessed to the killing in Suffolk Superior Court in 1993, Barros's 19-year-old son, Andy, faced him from the witness stand, pointed at him, and with tears streaming down his face said, "You made a lot of people suffer, and we'll never be the same."

Now, after a shooting outside the family's bar in Dorchester last weekend, Andy Barros and his siblings are terrified history could repeat itself and the family could be caught again in a cycle of violence.

Early Saturday morning, on Oct. 20, Miguel Perez, 22, was fatally shot in the head as he stood on Bowdoin Street, minutes after Barros threw him out of the bar, Gigi's Palace, because he feared Perez might cause trouble.

Last Monday morning, Barros returned to Gigi's to find threats scrawled in black marker on the exterior walls.

"You are next," read one missive. "Andy is good as dead," read another. There was a bullet hole in the doorway and investigators recovered bullet fragments inside the molding, according to a police report.

Superintendent in Chief Robert P. Dunford said police are investigating whether the threats are connected to Perez's killing.

"We don't have enough information to come to that conclusion at this time," he said. "Obviously there is a nexus, but I can't say conclusively that's what's going on."

Barros, 33, declined to comment, but his sister said he is terrified that he is being blamed for Perez's death and will be targeted. He wants to move Gigi's to another part of the city, said his sister, Theresa Barros, 36, who owns Gigi's with Andy Barros and their 26-year-old brother.

"This time around, threats are being taken very seriously," she said. "My stomach is in knots. I know that my family needs to get out of there."

Many in this predominantly Cape Verdean community said they would be disappointed to lose the bar, where customers like to watch soccer games and reminisce about the old country as they sip an espresso with Hennessey.

"It's unfair," said Emiliano Lima, 50. "We go there all the time. It's a nice place to be."

Thursday night, Theresa and Andy Barros attended a community meeting to discuss the bar's future, and many residents cried about the recent problems the family has faced, said Davida Andelman, chairwoman of the Greater Bowdoin Geneva Neighborhood Association. Association members plan to send a letter to police Commissioner Edward F. Davis today asking for a police detail at the bar until Barros can relocate, she said.

"Here is another good, honest, caring person who has to leave for his own safety," Andelman said. "I'm scared for Andy's safety, I really am."

Leaving Bowdoin Street would be bittersweet for the family members, who have owned the bar for 25 years. After Adriano Barros's death, his children took over the liquor store and the bar, then known as the Vulcan.

The younger Barroses spent about $75,000 in renovations, replacing linoleum floors with shiny hardwood and installing a marble bar top. They renamed the bar Gigi's Palace in 2003 after their father, whose nickname was Gigi.

Last Monday's threats convinced the siblings it was time to leave. Andy Barros contacted the city's licensing board to tell them he wanted to transfer his license to another part of the city, said Dan Pokaski, chairman of the licensing board. "It really is a tragedy," he said. "The board feels bad for him because we wanted to see him succeed in that area."

Theresa Barros said her brother is crushed.

"When he took that business over, his undying desire, his passion in life, became pleasing the people who knew my dad so they would say, 'Look at his son. He did it,' " she said. "It was very disheartening for him to do all that and for it to be where it is."

Maria Cramer can be reached at mcramer@globe.com.