One man was seriously injured and another was arrested after a shooting in the parking lot of the Blue Flame Lounge in northwest Atlanta late Thursday night, authorities said.
The shooting took place just before midnight at the strip club located near the interchange between Donald Lee Hollowell Parkway and I-285, Atlanta police said. Responding officers found a man at the scene suffering from multiple gunshot wounds.
Grady Emergency Medical Services also responded and took the man to the hospital, where he is in critical condition, police said.
Authorities said the victim was shot during a suspected drug deal in the Blue Flame’s parking lot, according to Channel 2 Action News. A suspect was apprehended after running into the woods, but a weapon could not be found, Channel 2 reported.
Police confirmed that 24-year-old Jonathan Parham was arrested. He is facing charges of aggravated assault, reckless conduct and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, police said.
The Blue Flame has been the site of several serious incidents in recent years. Multiple shootings took place there in 2020, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution previously reported. More recently, in January 2022, a 21-year-old California man was shot and killed after a dispute inside the club spilled into the parking lot and escalated into gunfire.
Family members of the victim, DiShawn Herndon, filed a lawsuit against the Blue Flame after the fatal incident. In their complaint, they claimed that “a significant number of crimes were committed either on the premises of the Blue Flame ... or in the immediate vicinity.”
The suspect, 25-year-old Dedric Howard, was identified after the shooting and arrested about a month later. He was booked into the Fulton County Jail on murder and aggravated assault charges in February 2022 and has remained there without bond.
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