The Hot Spot bar, where fatal shooting took place, to remain closed for weeks
The Hot Spot — the site of an early Saturday morning shooting that left two people dead and two others hospitalized — will remain closed for two weeks under an emergency liquor license suspension, Louisville's Alcoholic Beverage Control Director Brad Silveria confirmed with the Courier Journal.
The hearing on the bar's suspension was originally slated for Wednesday but has been postponed to May 28, per a request from the business's legal counsel. The proceeding will determine whether the license suspension will remain or be lifted, allowing the bar to reopen.
Around 5 a.m., Saturday, Louisville Metro Police Department officers responded to a call about a shooting at the club, located at 282 Evangeline Ave. in the Southland Park neighborhood, where they found several people who had been shot. One man, later identified as Aaron Anderson, 26, was pronounced dead at the scene.
A man and a woman were taken to the University of Louisville Hospital with gunshot wounds. A third male, who was reportedly shot at the business, arrived at the hospital a short time later, according to LMPD spokesperson John Bradley.
One of the two men at the hospital died from their injuries later Sunday. That person has not yet been publicly identified.
Hours after the shooting, the Louisville ABC signed a notice of a liquor license suspension and posted it to the front door of the Hot Spot.
The liquor license suspension follows a city ordinance passed in March of this year by Metro Council that allows Louisville Metro Alcoholic Beverage Control to issue emergency liquor license suspensions when public safety is at risk. The ordinance was prompted by a series of gun-related incidents, including a homicide at Café 360 off Bardstown Road where a man was shot and killed inside the crowded business.
This is the first time the quick-time emergency suspension has been utilized by Louisville Metro since it passed.
"This was a very swift response, and knowing that we have this tool in our back pocket is certainly a huge resource to the city going forward," Scottie Ellis, communications director for the Mayor's Office, said Tuesday.
Emergency license suspensions previously had to get approval from the commonwealth, which would often take "several days," as previously reported by the Courier Journal.
"It takes out the middle man," Deputy Mayor David James told the Courier Journal on Tuesday.
James said business owners have a great level of responsibility to ensure the safety inside their establishments. According to James, The Hot Spot is believed to have been operating after curfew hours, which is not permitted by the city.
"People that have ABC licenses should understand and recognize that following the laws are important and that they will be enforced," James said.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: The Hot Spot: Liquor license suspension hearing postponed
