Crime

KC division seeks to revoke liquor license of club that has been scene to shootings

About a week before a shooting outside a Kansas City nightclub left four people wounded, the city notified the bar’s owner that it would seek to revoke its liquor license.

In an Aug. 21 letter, the city’s division that issues liquor licenses told the owner of 9ine Ultra Lounge it had requested a hearing before the Liquor Control Board of Review because the bar did not meet probationary guidelines.

The notice, signed by Jim Ready, manager of Kansas City’s Regulated Industries, said the bar failed to submit the required number of consent forms to retain its liquor license.

It also noted the lounge was the scene of a Jan. 19 mass shooting that left two people dead and 15 wounded when a man started firing into a line of people waiting to get inside.

The gunfire claimed the lives of Raeven Parks, 25, and the attacker, 29-year-old Jahron Swift, who was 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.

Before that, the letter stated, two women were assaulted Nov. 17, 2019, on the property. One of the attackers took one of the victim’s purses; it was later determined someone tried to use her credit card.

Additionally, Regulated Industries said it received multiple reports that the lounge failed to close its premises on time.

“After reviewing all of the above information,” the letter continued, “I find that the criteria listed ... have not been met and you failed to successfully (complete) the probationary period as required.”

A date has not been set for the hearing, Ready said in an email.

Then before 2:30 a.m. Sunday, an argument inside the nightclub, in the 4800 block of Noland Road, spilled into the parking lot. Multiple shooters appeared to have fired dozens of rounds, wounding four people, according to the Kansas City Police Department.

As of Sunday afternoon, each victim — three men and one woman, ranging in age from their 20s to 40s — remained in “critical but stable” condition, police said. One had been shot multiple times in the legs, another had been shot in the abdomen.

Detectives said the shooting unfolded “right outside” the club in the parking lot. But Alphonso Hodge, the lounge’s owner, said Sunday he did not believe the shooting happened on his property.

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.

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Luke Nozicka
The Kansas City Star
Luke Nozicka was a member of The Kansas City Star’s investigative team until 2023. He covered criminal justice issues in Missouri and Kansas.
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