CLEVELAND — Police say three people were shot early Monday morning in the Flats on Old River Road just down the street from James Cleveland’s establishment, the Frozen Daquiri Bar and Restaurant.
“It was people running, they were running down the street they were dropping, and it’s just unfortunate not something we like to see,” Cleveland said.
James says the night was wrapping up, and he had just called CPD for help with crowd control about 30 minutes before the shooting but said no one arrived until after the shooting.
News 5 reached out to CPD for comment on this, and we haven’t heard back.
Now, days after the shooting, James said he feels as though some people are trying to unfairly blame his bar for the incident.
“It’s very frustrating when we do everything; we can we have seven or eight guards if it’s a big night; we have armed security," Cleveland said. “It’s hindering to the business; it scares guests and customers away."
On the heels of the shooting, Cleveland has changed his bar's dress code and is adding tougher age restrictions with the goal of filtering out any problem patrons.
“Age is always important because age is determined by maturity sometimes, so just making sure we get people who come here and are mature, understanding that being 21, you’re just now able to drink alcohol,” Cleveland said.
Cleveland said he hopes to see more officers in the area; management from Collision Bend Brewing company just across the street is asking for the same.
“We’re making calls to the city to increase security on the street,” Michael Grano said. “I think that’s really the focus that needs to happen; we need to have a very strong police presence.”
More importantly, Cleveland wants the public to know that violence isn’t just happening downtown.
“The strings of violence and crime are happening all over, you can’t necessarily pinpoint or put these things on the establishment, the establishment can only do what they can within their four walls, it takes a presence of the police and the community,” Cleveland said.
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