CLEVELAND — A local businessman is speaking out after the city abruptly boarded up Play Bar and Grill, which he co-owns, late Sunday night following a shooting in the Flats.
In a statement following the shooting, Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb said, “While the investigation is still unfolding, I’ve already directed my team to immediately shutdown and board up the bar involved. We will hold everyone accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”
David Hill, one of Play Bar and Grill’s co-owners, said he’s frustrated with the city’s decision and said the shooting is not the result of anything the business did, despite having called the fire department for help with overcrowding.
"I've never seen anything like this in like the history of Cleveland, where you can just board up a place publicly, embarrass and lie on the business," Hill said.
Six people were injured, which police said included a man who was arrested in connection with the shooting.
During a news conference on Monday, Cleveland Police Chief Annie Todd talked about the fire department dispersing the crowd at the bar.
RELATED: Shooting in The Flats left 6 people injured; 1 suspect in custody, police say
“They pushed the crowd outside shortly after an altercation took place. A short time after gunshots rang out and the crowd began running,” Todd said.
Hill disputes that account.
"Everybody walked out here, no issues,” Hill said. “There was no fight, there was no argument, no altercations at all.”
Hill said the shooters were not patrons of Play Bar and Grill.
“At no point were they in here,” Hill said.
During the Monday news conference, Todd didn’t answer specifically where the shooting started or what directly linked the shooting to Play Bar and Grill.
“So at this time, it's still an active investigation,” Todd said. “But we do have four locations that are surrounding this immediate area that were there was shell casings that were discovered."
I asked Hill more about the overcrowding that took place.
“Now, as a business owner, is there any responsibility for letting things get too crowded inside here on Sunday?” I said.
"So, that's a tricky question, because one, if we had the police presence we had, we usually have, it would never even be able to get to that point,” Hill said.
He said there was no prior warning about the business being boarded up.
"All these officers came in,” Hill said. “They said, ‘Hey, we're boarding you up. And if you try to stop this, you will be arrested’”.
“What does this say to other businesses in the city of Cleveland?” I asked him.
“It's scary," Hill said. "It's scary that you can have that much power and control and board up and humiliate a business to that extent with no paper trail, no citation, no documentation of anything. Just, it's sad. It's really sad."
He said the business is still waiting to receive official documentation about the forced closure.
“All we heard was but was the verbal… they called it an emergency shutdown, saying that we were a hazard to public safety which is completely ridiculous,” Hill said.
He said the city wasn’t properly prepared for large crowds, and Play Bar and Grill is unjustly paying the price.
“It's the entertainment district. This is one of the busiest places in the city,” Hill said. “Why is there no police presence here?"
Todd was asked about staffing levels during the news conference.
“We will continue to reevaluate,” Todd said.
I asked Hill if Play Bar and Grill will appeal the city’s decision to board up the business.
“That is the plan. We just want what's right,” Hill said. “We just want what's right. That’s all.”
He added, “My heartfelt condolences and just well wishes and prayers really go out to everybody involved.”
I reached out to the City of Cleveland via email with various questions related to the action they took against Play Bar and Grill. The city acknowledged my email, but I've yet to get answers to the questions.
