Four people shot Sunday at KC nightclub where mass shooting occurred in January
Update: Kansas City police provided more details Sunday about the shooting at 9ine Ultra Lounge. That story is posted here.
Four people were shot early Sunday at a Kansas City nightclub that was the scene of a mass shooting in January, according to police.
The shooting Sunday was reported just before 2:30 a.m. at 9ine Ultra Lounge in the 4800 block of Noland Road, Sgt. Jake Becchina, a spokesman for the Kansas City Police Department, said in an email.
One shooting victim was found at the scene and three others arrived at three separate hospitals, Becchina said.
The victim at the scene had been shot multiple times and is now hospitalized. The other three victims told authorities they were shot at the nightclub, Becchina said. No information was available about their conditions.
A previous shooting outside the nightclub on Jan. 19 left two dead and 15 injured after a man started firing into a line of people waiting to get inside the building.
The dead included 25-year-old Raeven Parks and the shooter, Jahron Swift, 29, who was fatally shot by a security guard working on the property.
At the time of the Jan. 19 shooting, the nightclub was still in a six-month probationary period for new liquor licenses. Police had also responded to a drive-by shooting outside the nightclub about a week before.
The shooting Sunday was the first reported at the nightclub since the January mass shooting.
On Sunday, Alphonso Hodge, owner of the 9ine Ultra Lounge, told The Star that he doesn’t believe the most recent shooting happened on his property.
The nightclub had hosted a private event Saturday evening, Hodge said. When he and the other employees packed up and closed down after the event, a few straggling cars were left in the parking lot.
The shooting didn’t happen until after he was already home, Hodge said. When he checked the security camera footage on his building, nothing indicated there was a shooting in his parking lot.
Police have not said exactly where the shooting unfolded, only that it happened at the club.
9ine Ultra Lounge advertised a Saturday night DJ event on its Facebook page hours before the shooting Sunday. Doors opened at 10 p.m., the advertisement said.
The club recommended people arrive early, since capacity was limited. The post also said the event was “security enforced.”
Barbara Butler, 71, lives behind the nightclub in a neighborhood mostly inhabited by senior citizens. She said she heard about the shooting on the news Sunday morning and thought: “My God, another one?”
Butler questioned whether the club should be open, not only because of the shootings but also because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
“I don’t think any club or any place should be open right now during this coronavirus stuff,” she said.
“When a club starts having all this kind of shootings, it’s time probably they need to shut down,” Butler added. “Shut down and go someplace else, or just shut down period.”
Gun violence will be the subject of a new, statewide journalism project The Star is undertaking in Missouri this year in partnership with the national service program Report for America and sponsored in part by Missouri Foundation for Health. As part of this project, The Star will seek the community’s help.
To contribute, visit Report for America online at reportforamerica.org.
This story was originally published August 30, 2020 at 8:51 AM.
