Kansas City club could lose liquor license after recent shootings, city official says
A Kansas City nightclub is at risk of losing its liquor license after more than 100 shots were fired in its parking-lot earlier this month, leaving one man severely injured.
Jim Ready, manager of Kansas City’s Regulated Industries division, said Monday that he is seeking to have the liquor license revoked for the business — the Rendezvous Lounge — out of concern for public safety. There have been two shooting incidents at the club in the last four months.
“It’s not OK to be OK with shootings,” Ready said. “In Kansas City, I think everybody is getting to the point where it’s like the violence is really getting bad. And no one should ever be complacent.”
The club’s owner declined to comment, saying he wished to first consult with his attorney.
Around 3 a.m. on March 14, dozens of officers responded to a shooting outside the club, at 11816 Blue Ridge Blvd., the Kansas City Police Department said in a statement last week.
When officers arrived, they found one man who had been shot in the face. He was taken to an area hospital. Several vehicles and the club were struck by bullets. No one else was hurt, police said.
The shooting started after two fights broke out inside the club as it was closing, witnesses told police. Security guards tried to break them up with pepper spray, and the fights then spilled out into the parking lot, police said, which may have also contributed to a car crash on Blue Ridge Boulevard.
After the crash, police say several people started shooting at each other. Two of the alleged shooters were arrested. Investigators found roughly 100 spent shell casings that came from five different firearms.
That incident marked the second reported shooting outside the club within the past few months.
In early November, police began investigating the killing of 31-year-old Raymond Douglas, who was shot multiple times outside the club as it was closing up for the night. Douglas was Kansas City’s 166th homicide victim of 2020, the deadliest year on record, according to data maintained by The Star.
A decision to pull the Rendezvous Lounge’s liquor license would have to be made by the city’s liquor control board. Ready, whose department oversees liquor licensing, said Monday he has requested a hearing on the matter.
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.
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