Local business moving forward after shooting
(COLORADO SPRINGS) — Police are still searching for a suspect in a shooting outside a daiquiri and cocktail lounge in Colorado Springs. Three people were shot and now the local business owner is sharing what she remembers from that night.
The Luxe Daiquiri Lounge near the Knob Hill neighborhood in Colorado Springs has only been open for a little more than a year. Latrina Ollie is the owner of the lounge and wants to make sure the community knows the incident happened outside in the parking lot.
One dead after weekend shooting at Luxe Daquiri Lounge
In the early morning hours of Saturday, March 30, the Colorado Springs Police Department (CSPD) responded to the shooting at the lounge on Galley Road. When they arrived, officers saw several cars drive away.
“Our weekends, those are our busier days,” Ollie said.
Ollie has owned the lounge since February 2023 and said last Saturday was a first for her and the new lounge.
“I was in the back room in the office at the time working on some paperwork and I was actually watching everything in real-time on the cameras,” Ollie explained. “It was an unfortunate situation.”
Two victims were taken to the hospital, and one, later identified as 22-year-old Jahiddi Williams of Colorado Springs, died from his injuries.
Courtesy: Colorado Springs Police Department
“At the end of the day, someone did lose their child, someone lost their father,” Ollie said. “There are people that are going to be traumatized by this event.”
Now the owner is doing whatever she can to support CSPD’s investigation and locate the suspect, while continuing to welcome the community to her small business.
“It’s unfortunate, especially for a business owner when things happen beyond your control,” Ollie explained. “I’d rather listen to reviews about my drinks or something that we can control. Things in the parking lot with people that weren’t even in here that night, it’s hard.”
The Luxe Daiquiri Lounge has 24/7 surveillance and a third-party security team working on the weekends.
“Unfortunately, one of them did get shot,” Ollie said. “He’s still in the hospital recovering from his wounds.”
The owner said several customers ended up taking the victims to the hospital the night of the shooting.
“I think the ambulance took about 40 minutes to come,” Ollie explained. “I heard some of them say they weren’t waiting, and Memorial Hospital is right down the street, so they figured they could get there faster than the ambulance.”
The owner believes the lounge is located in a safe neighborhood, but she is changing some lounge policies in response to the shooting.
“We are now a 30 and up lounge, which a lot of people are familiar with when it was a previous business,” Ollie said. “We would love to welcome those patrons back in the business.”
The investigation is ongoing, and CSPD asked anyone who may be a witness or who may have information on the shooting to contact CSPD at (719) 444-7000. To remain anonymous, you can contact the Pikes Peak Area Crime Stoppers tip line at (719) 634-STOP (7867).
This is the ninth homicide in the City of Colorado Springs in 2024. At this time in 2023, there had been five homicides.
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