A man is dead after an argument at a popular downtown restaurant and hookah lounge escalated to gunfire Tuesday morning, according to Atlanta police.
The call about a person shot in the 250 block of Trinity Avenue came in just after 6 a.m., and officers quickly cordoned off the area with crime scene tape.
Lt. Ralph Woolfolk, commander of Atlanta police’s homicide unit, said the argument started inside the Monaco Hookah Lounge and spilled over outside.
The victim was identified by friends and family as Laderrick Jackson. His body could be seen lying on the ground in front of a tobacco shop next to the lounge. He was a father to a 1-year-old girl, according to a GoFundMe account set up by the family to help with expenses.
Credit: John Spink
Credit: John Spink
“We are working through speaking to two witnesses at this time and trying to assess the validity of the information that they’re providing us at this point,” Woolfolk said.
Woolfolk did not confirm if a suspect has been identified, but he did say investigators are looking into a person of interest.
No other details have been released.
It was not the first time a shooting has been reported in front of the Monaco Hookah Lounge or Chic Restaurant and Lounge, which is next door. Since November 2020, incidents reported outside the two clubs resulted in eight people being shot, two of whom died.
In late January, police found several spent shell casings in the street outside the venues. No injuries were reported in that case.
In June 2021, two men were shot, one of whom suffered multiple gunshot wounds.
In December 2020, police found more than 30 shell casings scattered across the parking lot, but no injuries were reported.
Less than a month earlier on Nov. 6, 2020, Chicago rapper King Von, whose real name was Dayvon Bennett, and 34-year-old Mark Blakely of Chicago were killed in a shootout that injured four others when a fight broke out outside the clubs. Bennett had been hosting an album release party at the Monaco location.
Last week, Atlanta officials filed a complaint seeking to shutter a separate hookah lounge — Encore Hookah Bar & Bistro, located about a mile away from the Chic and Monaco lounges — following a spate of shootings over the past two years, at least three of which were fatal.
The city has asked a judge to declare the Encore bar, which is located near the Georgia Aquarium, a public nuisance, arguing it “attracts an influx of criminal activity.” In one of the shooting incidents, several stray bullets entered the Aquarium’s dolphin enclosure and forced five dolphins to be relocated while a dive team removed shattered glass. One man was injured in that shooting.
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