A denim jacket and a black Yankees baseball cap — they are the two key items a suspected shooter wore when he allegedly shot an ex-girlfriend outside a Buckhead lounge last week.
They are also essential in identifying him.
On Monday, Atlanta police investigators released surveillance footage that captures the suspect before gunfire erupted outside Kompass Rose Grille.
About 5 a.m. Friday, police responded to the 2500 block of Piedmont Road about a 24-year-old woman shot in the back, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution previously reported.
The preliminary investigation indicates the woman was with another man when the suspect walked up to her and shot her, Atlanta police Sgt. John Chafee said in a statement. She was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital in stable condition. Her updated condition was not released Monday.
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“She advised she had been in a relationship with the suspect previously and advised the suspect shot her because she was with another man,” Chafee said. “Witnesses advised that the male ran from the scene on foot.”
Friday was not the first time police responded to a shooting at the business, which previously operated under the name Anchor Down Grille and Lounge. In July 2016, two groups of men began shooting in the parking lot, and 25-year-old Taylor Hayden got caught in the crossfire.
Hayden, the sister of Minnesota Sen. Jeff Hayden, later died at Grady Memorial Hospital. The restaurant’s owners, NFL veterans Uche Nwaneri and Edawn Coughman, raised money for Hayden’s family, calling her death “devastating.”
The senator said at the time the shooters were members of rival gangs. It was not clear if the case was ever solved.
The business also has a history of violations dating back to 2015 that have resulted in multiple citations and the suspension of the lounge’s liquor license.
When city of Atlanta investigators with the license and permits division raided the business in June 2016, one month before Hayden was killed, they said everything about the operation was illegal, Channel 2 Action News reported.
Nwaneri was arrested for selling alcohol after hours without a permit. The former Dallas Cowboys player was allegedly found in possession of cocaine.
His co-owner, Coughman, has also been jailed on cocaine possession charges in the past, the news station reported.
“Since that time, officers have conducted several spot checks of the location and have not found additional violations,” Chafee said. “In light of this morning’s shooting, we will be taking a hard look at the location and their business practices to see whether there are any violations.”
Atlanta police are working with the city’s law department to explore options to have the lounge’s liquor license revoked.
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