GREENSBORO, N.C. (WGHP) — Violence over the weekend has prompted a call to action from a Triad city’s mayor.
Bullets sent people diving for cover outside of Electric Tequila nightclub, located on Battleground Avenue, Friday night into early Saturday morning, and Greensboro Mayor Nancy Vaughan says she wants things to change.
Police continue to search for the suspect who fired dozens of shots, injuring two women. Businesses in the area are familiar with the type of violence that erupted outside of Electric Tequila that night, they say.
“Within the last two years it’s been gunshots, fights, gunshots and more gunshots,” a business owner in the area said. “We’ve found unconscious people bleeding out in the parking lot and we’ve had to call EMS.”
Mayor Nancy Vaughan was on a police ride-along when the call came in about the shooting that left two women with gunshot wounds to their legs.
“One of the officers, a 20-year veteran, told me that he had never seen so many bullet bases at one site,” she said. “Even with something like [the shooting], we as a city don’t have the ability to say, ‘You can’t open up tomorrow.'”
Sunday afternoon, Electric Tequila reopened, and the Greensboro Police Department had to remove hundreds of people because the building was over capacity.
“There should have been some pause for them to see what they could do different,” Vaughan said. “I think things aren’t working because people just love that almighty dollar and they don’t care if their patrons are at risk.”
The city is looking to file a civil nuisance abatement lawsuit against the club. It’s a long process but could result in the closure of the business.
Vaughan wants people to know that the city is taking the situation very seriously and that they’d “taken it as far as we can go.”
“I’m a realist and I know that’s going to take time,” a business owner said. “So what immediately can be done?”
ALE investigators were on the scene after the shooting, and the city is waiting to hear from them about the findings of their investigation, which could result in the ABC commission revoking the club’s license to serve alcohol.
The mayor says she plans to address the situation at the next city council meeting.
