Owner of Fayetteville hookah lounge that was site of deadly shooting denies ALE charges
Editor's note: The charges against Marwan Al Jabani were dismissed by the Cumberland County District Attorney's Office and were expunged from his record.
The owner of a Fayetteville hookah lounge denied allegations Tuesday that he lied to homicide investigators conducting a probe into a fatal shooting at his lounge last month, and that he employed an unlicensed armed security guard — allegations that are the basis for charges filed against him by the enforcement agency for the state's alcoholic beverage control laws.
Marwan Al Janabi, 34, of Fayetteville, owner of Airborne Hookah Lounge on Raeford Road, has also been charged with allowing unlawful acts to occur on the licensed premises and failing to superintend the business on May 30 — the day a dispute led to a fatal shooting, according to a statement from the North Carolina Department of Public Safety on behalf of the Alcohol Law Enforcement agency.
The ALE said the shooting stemmed from a dispute involving three employees of the lounge. The Fayetteville Police Department clarified Tuesday that the three were the lounge’s security guard, a promoter and a third individual who had a conflict with the promoter. Gunfire erupted near the club’s rear entrance during the dispute, and three people were struck.
According to police, officers located a woman at the scene with life-threatening injuries, another person was found with a gunshot wound in a vehicle on Raeford Road and a third person, Antwain Maurice Hoskins, 22, had been taken by private vehicle to Cape Fear Valley Medical Center. Hoskins was pronounced dead at the hospital.
Reached for comment Tuesday, Al Janabi said the allegations against him were false.
“Airborne Hookah Lounge has never hired any armed security guards. We are a smoking lounge and never (had) a need for any,” he said.
Related: One killed, two injured in shooting outside Fayetteville hookah lounge early Monday
On the night of the shooting, he explained, the guard was tasked with monitoring the doorway of the lounge that leads from the smoking side to the dance floor.
“His only job was to make sure no drinks were to make it to the dance floor,” Jabani said.
He said that the lounge shut down at 2 a.m. and afterward he had noticed there was a crowd gathering in the parking lot, so he called police to ask them to disperse it.
“The call I made was at 2:13 a.m. The shooting happened at 2:17 a.m.,” Al Jabani said.
He said he’s provided a statement to police and video footage from his surveillance camera.
“I, at no time, gave any false information about what happened that night,” he said.
Al Janabi was arrested June 9 on the three charges, the ALE statement said.
Additionally, the statement noted, the North Carolina Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission rejected Airborne Hookah Lounge’s request for a temporary license to serve malt and mixed beverages, the statement said.
Police Sgt. Jeremy Glass said the investigation into the shooting is ongoing and no charges have been filed in the case.
Military & Crime Editor F.T. Norton can be reached at fnorton@fayobserver.com.
This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Fayetteville hookah lounge owner charged by Alcohol Law Enforcement
