Multiple shooters fired dozens of rounds outside Kansas City nightclub, wounding 4
Four people were shot early Sunday after an argument inside a Kansas City nightclub spilled into the parking lot, where multiple shooters fired dozens of rounds, according to police.
The shootout unfolded outside 9ine Ultra Lounge, which months earlier was the scene of a Jan. 19 mass shooting that left two people dead and 15 injured when a man started firing into a line of people waiting to get inside.
The shooting Sunday was reported just before 2:30 a.m. at the lounge in the 4800 block of Noland Road, said Sgt. Jake Becchina, a spokesman for the Kansas City Police Department.
One shooting victim, a man in his 40s, was found in the parking lot. Three other victims — two men and one woman, ranging in age from their 20s to 40s — arrived at three separate hospitals, police said.
The three victims not found at the scene told police they were shot at the nightclub, Becchina said.
As of Sunday afternoon, each victim remained in “critical but stable” condition, according to police. One victim had been shot multiple times in the legs, another had been shot in his abdomen.
Citing a preliminary investigation, police said it appeared the gunfire stemmed from an argument that began inside the club. Outside, the shooters appeared to have fired dozens of gunshots, according to police.
In an email Sunday afternoon, police said the shooting unfolded “right outside” the club in the parking lot. The club, Becchina said, was open at the time of the shooting, but closed right after.
It was the first shooting reported at the nightclub since the January mass shooting that claimed the lives of Raeven Parks, 25, and the attacker, 29-year-old Jahron Swift, who was shot and killed by a security guard.
At the time of that shooting, the nightclub was still in a 6-month probationary period for new liquor licenses. Police had also responded to a drive-by shooting outside the nightclub about a week before.
Alphonso Hodge, the lounge’s owner, said Sunday he did not believe Sunday’s shooting happened on his property.
The nightclub hosted a private event Saturday evening, Hodge said. When he and the other employees packed up and closed down after the event about 1:30 a.m., a few straggling cars were left in the parking lot, he said.
The shooting didn’t happen until after he was already home, Hodge told The Star. When he checked the security camera footage on his building, nothing indicated there was a shooting in his parking lot, he said.
“I don’t know exactly where it took place, but I know it did not take place in front of the 9ine,” Hodge said Sunday, adding that his camera system “goes pretty far,” but does not show the entire lot. “I’m just frustrated, trying to figure out exactly what took place.”
The lounge advertised a Saturday night DJ event on its Facebook page hours before the shooting. 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 COVID-19 pandemic.
“When a club starts having all this kind of shootings, it’s time probably they need to shut down,” Butler said. “Shut down and go someplace else, or just shut down period.”
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