Club shooting hurts 2, upsets commissioner
Bowles wants license reviewed
By Preston Sparks| Staff Writer
Sunday, February 08, 2009

A double shooting early Saturday at an Augusta club has at least one Augusta commissioner calling for another review of the business, which officials say has been plagued by criminal activity.

A fight inside Club Platinum, in the 1500 block of North Leg Road, ended with two people being shot outside in a parking lot, said Richmond County sheriff's Investigator Sean Cochran.

He said two groups of "young adults" got into a fight and were asked to leave, and the parking lot shooting followed.

He said the victims were in stable condition at Medical College of Georgia Hospital.

Investigator Cochran said the names of the victims weren't being released, and there were no details on who might have fired the shots.

Augusta Commissioner Joe Bowles said Saturday that he had spoken with an investigator about the shooting and plans to discuss it at the commission's next public safety committee meeting Feb. 16. "I'm going to bring it up again," he said, but first he'll first try to confirm that Saturday's incident originated inside Club Platinum.

He said he would consider a motion to have the club's business license revoked.

"If the fight broke out inside, we owe it to the safety to the citizens of Augusta to force the club owners to be responsible for the parking lot," he said.

Club Platinum owners have gone before commissioners over other violent incidents and offered to provide added security to avoid losing their license.

In August, a shooting occurred in the club's parking lot, the third shooting there in two years.

In November, a 19-year-old woman told police she had been held at gunpoint after trying to leave the club.

Mr. Bowles said he'll also likely bring up another club, Cream, that's just 20 feet away from Club Platinum.

He said that on Wednesday there was a report of someone waving a gun inside Cream. He said the person was later arrested.

"If it were me, I would close down both of those clubs," he said.

Attempts to contact Club Platinum and Cream on Saturday were unsuccessful.

In November, The Chronicle reported that Club Platinum owners had restricted the park- ing lot to one entrance and one exit and that there was a plan to have security staff and volunteers on hand to help man the lot.

Reach Preston Sparks at (706) 823-3338 or preston.sparks@augustachronicle.com

Reader Comments
Note: Comments are not edited and don't represent the views of The Augusta Chronicle. Please read our full comments policy. To report a post that may be inappropriate, click the icon.
Your comment will be attributed to
YOUR MESSAGE:
You have 1200 characters left.


advertisement

advertisement

TopJobs


Augusta-area Top Jobs
Emergency Services >ENTRY LEVEL< $16-21 | hr +Great Benefits Answer calls & dispatch proper authority. Call us at 706.868.6800 J#3413 Full Time | Permanent Pro Resources $185 Great Opportunity on Pos... (more)
Community Director needed for a Class A Tax Credit Property. Exceptional team member will have 3-5 years of Property Management experience. Yardi Knowledge is a plus fax resume 706-869-0600 (more)
ALL LOCAL! HAUL MATERIAL $15 | hr & Permanent. Load & haul construction material to sites. J# 311 (706)868-6800 Full Time Position. Pro Resources $185 svc fee Well Established South Carolina Company... (more)


© 2009 The Augusta Chronicle|Terms of service|About our ads|Help|Contact us|Subscribe|Local business listings


advertisement
advertisement