Police investigating shooting near downtown Atlanta lounge

Atlanta police found multiple spent shell casings near a popular downtown restaurant and hookah lounge Tuesday morning. (John Spink / John.Spink@ajc.com)

Credit: John Spink

Credit: John Spink

Atlanta police found multiple spent shell casings near a popular downtown restaurant and hookah lounge Tuesday morning. (John Spink / John.Spink@ajc.com)

Atlanta police found multiple spent shell casings after a shooting near a popular downtown restaurant and hookah lounge Tuesday morning.

Officers were called to the area near the Chic Restaurant and Lounge at 257 Trinity Ave. about 4:30 a.m., according to a news release. A bystander told police someone was shooting outside the club. The suspect fled before police arrived.

No injuries were reported.

It’s not the first time shootings have been reported in the area. Since November 2020, at least eight people have been shot outside the club, two of whom died.

On Nov. 6, 2020, Chicago rapper King Von, whose real name was Dayvon Bennett, hosted an album release party at the Monaco Hookah Lounge, which is located next to the Chic restaurant. Bennett and 34-year-old Mark Blakely of Chicago were killed in a shootout that injured four others when a fight started outside the club.

Just less than a month later on Dec. 1, gunfire erupted outside the clubs again. No injuries were reported in that incident, but police found more than 30 shell casings scattered across the parking lot.

Then last year on June 11, two men were injured in a shooting at Chic. One of the victims suffered multiple gunshot wounds.

— Please return to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution for updates.