A woman was injured in an early morning shooting in the parking lot of the same Buckhead lounge where a Minnesota state senator’s sister was killed nearly two years ago.
The 24-year-old woman was shot in the back as she was getting into a vehicle outside Kompass Rose Grille in the 2500 block of Piedmont Road, according to Atlanta police.
Witnesses at the lounge said they heard a gunshot ring out just before 5 a.m. Friday.
The woman was alert and conscious before she was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital. She is in stable condition, Atlanta police Capt. Andrew Sezner said.
The preliminary investigation indicates the woman was with anther man when the suspect walked up to her and shot her, Atlanta police Sgt. John Chafee said in a statement.
“She advised she had been in a relationship with the suspect previously and advised the suspect shot her because she was with another man,” Chafee said. “Witnesses advised that the male ran from the scene on foot.”
Investigators were still working to confirm the suspect’s identity and the motive Friday afternoon.
“We don’t have any suspect information at this time,” Sezner said. “We are in the very beginning stages of our investigation.”
Friday was not the first time police responded to a shooting at the business, which previously operated under the name as Anchor Down Grille and Lounge. In July 2016, two groups of men began shooting in the parking lot, and 25-year-old Taylor Hayden got caught in the crossfire.
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Hayden, the sister of Minnesota Sen. Jeff Hayden, later died at Grady Memorial Hospital. The restaurant’s owners, NFL veterans Uche Nwaneri and Edawn Coughman, raised money for Hayden’s family, calling her death “devastating.”
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The senator said at the time the shooters were members of rival gangs. It was not clear if the case was ever solved.
The business has a history of violations.
In 2015, the Atlanta Police license and permits unit issued two citations to the business regarding violations related to the sale of alcohol, Chafee said. At the time, the business operated at location in the 1800 block of Piedmont Avenue before moving to its current location.
A year later, the business was cited four times for alcohol-related violations, but remained in business. The lounge’s liquor license was suspended for five days and given a $5,000 fine.
When city of Atlanta investigators with the license and permits division raided the business in June 2016, one month before Hayden was killed, they said everything about the operation was illegal, Channel 2 Action News reported.
Nwaneri was arrested for selling alcohol after hours without a permit. The former Dallas Cowboys player was allegedly found in possession of cocaine.
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His co-owner, Coughman, has also been jailed on cocaine possession charges in the past, the news station reported.
“Since that time, officers have conducted several spot checks of the location and have not found additional violations,” Chafee said. “In light of this morning’s shooting, we will be taking a hard look at the location and their business practices to see whether there are any violations.”
The business sits in Atlanta City Council member Howard Shook’s district.
"I thought the place was shut down, so this is extremely aggravating," Shook told Channel 2 on Friday. "Why this place continues to operate in violation of whole plethora of liquor license laws, in open secret fashion, seem to be flaunting it publicly and I want to know who's been looking the other way.”
Atlanta police are working with the city’s law department to explore options to have the lounge’s liquor license revoked.
— Staff writer Raisa Habersham contributed to this report.
—Please return to AJC.com for updates.
