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Acting D.C. police chief Pamela A. Smith cited “lax security protocols” in ordering Cru Lounge on H Street NE to temporarily close following a shooting Saturday that killed a former college basketball standout and injured three others.
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In a letter to a lounge representative, Smith said the “fact that a pistol was brought into the establishment undetected raises serious concerns about the security at the establishment.”
The 96-hour closure took effect Sunday. The city’s Alcoholic Beverage and Cannabis Administration, which regulates city liquor licenses, is holding a hearing on the issue Wednesday, according to the agency’s spokesman.
The D.C. police chief can, under “emergency authority,” order a liquor establishment closed for 96 hours, typically by citing an imminent danger to the community. In this case, Smith said in the letter that the shooting “can be connected to the operations and lax security protocols.”
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Police said Monday they have made no arrests and did not know of a motive in the shooting, which occurred shortly before midnight inside the club in the 1300 block of H Street NE, one of the city’s nightlife areas.
The man killed, Blake Bozeman, 31, had been the starting guard from 2011 to 2015 for the Morgan State University basketball team in Baltimore. The school said he ranked second all-time in minutes played, fourth in games played and third in three-point baskets. He was the son of former Morgan State coach Todd Bozeman.
Authorities said little about their investigation, and a police report released Monday provided few new details. The report said a handgun was used in the shooting, which Smith said in her letter occurred on the lounge’s second floor. One of the victims was found in front of the lounge.
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Smith said in the letter that “it is imperative that the establishment’s internal security protocols be reviewed immediately.”
Former college basketball standout killed, three wounded in D.C. shooting
Police said Monday that the surviving victims were from Maryland, Virginia and Pennsylvania. Police said Bozeman lived in Southeast Washington, but the report also listed an address for him in Maryland. Efforts on Monday to reach Bozeman’s relatives and the other victims were not successful.
In an unsigned statement from “Cru leadership,” representatives said they were “devastated by the horrendous events” on Saturday. “We are a place where people should come to enjoy themselves and feel safe.”
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The statement did not directly address concerns raised by Smith but said: “We work with our security partners on a daily basis to ensure we provide a safe environment. It is heartbreaking that a rogue act of senseless violence occurred at our establishment.”
The spokesman for the alcoholic regulatory agency said its investigators have not issued any prior citations or warnings to the lounge.
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The shooting at Cru Lounge occurred along one of the city’s dining and entertainment corridors, which is also a focus of the District’s nightlife task force designed to reduce violence in areas along H and U streets and in Adams Morgan.
Mary Ellen Vehlow, the director and president of Gallery O on H, a wedding, cultural event and art space on the same block as Cru Lounge, said recent crime has crippled business following an uptick in bookings last year.
She said there has been “more and more occurrences of crime on the street, and more and more publicity.” Vehlow, known as Dolly, said 75 groups have inquired about using the space since the spring, and very few have committed. She said no weddings — the venue’s prime moneymaker — have been booked since the spring.
“I’m afraid for my patrons,” Vehlow said.
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Her husband, Stephen Hessler, with whom she co-owns the buildings, said, “The neighborhood reputation is in the toilet.”
D.C. police statistics show that in the patrol area along the H Street corridor, violent crime is up 31 percent, driven by a spike in robberies. Violent crime across the city is up 37 percent.
Members of the D.C. Advisory Neighborhood Commission who represent the H Street area issued a statement calling on D.C. officials to “match their words about gun violence with an action plan to address it with urgency.” They also demanded that Cru Lounge’s operators investigate how someone with a firearm got inside the club.
“We were deeply troubled to awake this morning to the news of another senseless act of gun violence in the city — this time along H Street NE,” their statement says. “It is sad and infuriating.”
The neighborhood commissioners said that public safety will be the focus of their Oct. 12 meeting and that Smith and the deputy mayor for public safety have been invited.
The mayor’s office did not respond to questions about the letter or the nightlife task force.
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