Man in critical condition after being shot multiple times outside Providence nightclub
PROVIDENCE — A late-night shooting of a 30-year-old man outside the Wonderland Gentlemen's Club on Allens Avenue led to an emergency licensing hearing on Saturday morning and a temporary shutdown order.
The unidentified victim was outside the club at 257 Allens Ave. when an unknown gunman shot him multiple times shortly before midnight, according to police Cmdr. Thomas Verdi.
A friend drove the victim to Rhode Island Hospital, where he was in critical condition with life-threatening injuries, Verdi said.
At the scene of the shooting, security staff told police that "there was a verbal altercation between two groups who were kicked out of the establishment. Both groups were separated and went opposite ways."
A short time later, "a dark colored SUV is seen pulling up to the remaining group and an unknown subject is seen exiting the vehicle and opening fire into the group, striking the victim ... before re-entering the vehicle and fleeing the scene outbound on Allens Ave," according to the redacted police report.
At an emergency hearing Saturday morning, the city's Board of Licenses effectively voted to close Wonderland Gentlemen's Club by suspending all of its licenses, pending a full hearing at 11 a.m. on Tuesday.
According to a statement by the board, the action was "based upon the testimony concerning the incident itself and the ongoing threat to public safety as testified to by the Providence Police Department."
As part of the investigation that followed, police made three car stops that led to the arrest of four people on gun charges and the seizure of a number of firearms, Verdi said. He provided this rundown:
• Two women were charged with possession of a firearm, without a license, as a result of a car stop near 480 Allens Ave. "as they were leaving the scene of the shooting which occurred at 'Wonderland,'" according to the police report. They were identified as Shaquillah T. Washington, 29, of Providence, and Krishon L. Butler, 25, of Providence.
• Julian Lomba, 28, of Providence, was also charged with possession of a firearm without a license after he was pulled over near Blackstone and Eddy streets.
• Anthony Thompson, 24, of Jamaica Plains, Massachusetts, was charged with possession of a firearm without a license and possession of a firearm with obliterated serial numbers, after a car stop at Blackstone Street and Allens Avenue "due to the shooting at Wonderland."
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Shooting outside Wonderland Gentlemen's Club leaves one man injured
