21 people have been shot at 9ine Ultra Lounge this year. And it’s still in business?
Since January, 19 people have been shot, and two more have died from gunfire at 9ine Ultra Lounge in Kansas City.
Yet, indefensibly, the nightclub remains open for business.
How many more people need to die or be injured before city officials shut down the lounge for good?
The city’s Liquor Control Board of Review will determine the fate of the club’s liquor license.
“While we must hold hearings and present evidence to the Liquor Control Board, we are moving to make that happen at the earliest possible date,” a city spokesman told The Star Editorial Board.
The nightclub, owned by one-time Kansas City Chiefs player Alphonso Hodge, was the site of a mass shooting in January that left two people dead and 15 others injured.
Early Sunday, four people were shot after an apparent altercation inside the club spilled onto the parking lot, police said.
Three men and one woman were injured. All were shot while at the lounge, police say.
No arrests had been made as the investigation continued this week. Multiple shooters appeared to have fired dozens of rounds, police said.
“Detectives are still diligently working to obtain any video available, speak to victims and witnesses,” a police spokeswoman said Monday.
Attempts to reach Hodge for comment were unsuccessful. He claims the shooting did not occur on the property, The Star reported.
Club was site of mass shooting
In January, 25-year-old Raeven Parks was mortally wounded as she stood in line outside the nightclub near U.S. Highway 40 and Noland Road.
Jahron Swift allegedly opened fire on a crowd and shot Parks, police said. At least 15 people were wounded. An armed security guard fatally shot Swift. The Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office declined to file charges against the guard.
At the time, the nightclub was still in a six-month probationary period for new liquor licenses, said Jim Ready, manager of Kansas City’s Regulated Industries, which issues the city’s business and liquor licenses.
After the shooting, the bar failed to submit consent forms from nearby property owners to retain its license, Ready said.
“There is no big mystery here,” he said. “The biggest thing was the (mass shooting). When you have 15 people shot, it’s not normal.”
That’s an understatement. And a mass shooting at a club still in its probationary period should have been enough to end its tumultuous and deadly existence.
But calls for the club to lose its liquor license went nowhere after the first shooting. Red tape — and a two-month pause due to coronavirus concerns — allowed Hodge to slip through the cracks and reopen.
That’s simply unacceptable.
On Aug. 21, Ready recommended that the liquor review board revoke the club’s ability to serve alcohol, a sure-fire death blow for any establishment. A hearing date has not been set, and a decision could take weeks, if not months.
In the interest of public safety, the city must act immediately.
“I just can’t take a liquor license,” Ready said. “There are steps to go through.”
Metal detectors, ID scanners?
Any business that is a haven for violent crime should face swift sanctions. One week before the mass shooting, a drive-by shooting at 9ine Ultra Lounge left one man injured. Before that, police were called to the property five times.
Even bad actors are entitled to due process, city officials say.
In March, Hodge told reporters that he planned to install metal detectors and ID scanners at the club’s entrance to address safety concerns. A new surveillance system and a larger security staff were also supposed to be in the works.
Plans included hiring two armed guards to work the door and stationing eight other armed security guards in the parking lot. But the latest incident shows a lack of commitment to maintaining order.
One shooting at any establishment is one too many. What more even needs to be said after 19 people have been shot and two others killed in the span of eight months?
The 9ine Ultra Lounge is a hotbed for violence. Not one ounce of liquor should flow inside the establishment ever again.