Club In Mass Shooting Had 37 Complaints

Power Ultra Lounge, the Little Rock, Ark., nightclub where 28 people were wounded in a shooting during a rap concert July 1, remained open despite at least 37 civil and criminal complaints that the city could have used to sanction or close the business.

Andrew DeMillo/AP – Shooting Scene
An investigator collects evidence near an Arkansas nightclub where police say multiple people were shot, in Little Rock, Ark.

The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports the complaints include two previous shootings outside the club, which was licensed as a restaurant and not a concert venue or event center.

The state’s alcohol control agency licensed it as a restaurant with a “mixed drink permit” that allows the presence of minors, as well as regulation of what kind of food is served and hours of kitchen operation.

One of those injured in the shooting was 16 years old.

The club was already facing three state violations, including one for offering bottle service for liquor, in March 2015 when the Alcoholic Beverage Control’s enforcement division alleged it was no longer qualified to hold the mixed drink permit because meals weren’t prepared on site or served during permitted hours, the paper reports.

City Manager Bruce Moore said he should’ve known about the previous incidents, but officials never made the connection. Moore said he’ll appoint a police liaison to a criminal abatement committee to help improve communication.

“I’ve seen the fact that I should have known,” Moore told the Democrat-Gazette. “We would have shut them down immediately, but we weren’t aware of it.”

No charges have been filed in the July 1 shooting during the concert by rapper Ricky Hampton, though he and his bodyguard have been arrested on unrelated weapons charges