ROANOKE, Va. – Update, Sept. 21 6:15 p.m.:
Police are searching for whoever shot a man multiple times at 1st Down Sports Lounge in southwest Roanoke early Friday morning, and people who live nearby say they’re frustrated with what happens there late at night.
Police said sometime before 1:30 a.m. a man was shot multiple times. He’s listed in stable condition as of Friday afternoon, according to police.
Officers found the victim outside and they’re not sure if he was shot inside or outside.
Witnesses say they heard 4 or 5 gunshots.
Police told 10 News Friday that they’ve gotten 50 calls to respond the Bridge Avenue location in the last 12 months, which is almost one per week.
Many neighbors told 10 News they’re upset with the activity around the business. They describe a loud party in the street Thursday through Saturday nights.
They see people drinking and using drugs outside at night, and the next morning they sometimes find drugs, needles, empty alcohol bottles and other unmentionable trash littered in the street.
“Fights, there've been shootings up there before,” neighbor Randolph Eanes said. “It needs to stop, man. Seriously.”
Some neighbors are worried about their own safety after the shooting.
“There's no sense in {shootings} because there's children around here man, and you've got other people who live right around the bar. What about if one of the stray bullets comes and hits somebody down here,” Eanes said.
Neighbors put together a petition for 1st Down Sports Lounge to lose its liquor license, but were unsuccessful.
10 News called and knocked on the front door of the business to ask for a comment, but didn’t get a response.
Neighbors said there’s more than 100 years of history at this location. Clark Dent Sr. said his grandmother ran a hotdog restaurant there in the 1960s.
“There wasn't any alcohol in this community back in the 60s,” Dent said.
He said the atmosphere and the ownership has changed many times.
We asked police about people being outside 1st Down Sports Lounge so late at night and how officers feel about activity in the area but police declined to comment further.
“You've got a bar up here that's been more trouble than it's been worth and it needs to be shut down,” Eanes said.
10 News also saw ABC agents investigating Friday.
Original story:
Roanoke police are investigating an overnight shooting that sent one man to the hospital.
Calls came in to dispatch around 1:30 a.m. Friday for a shooting at the 1st Down Sports Lounge in Southwest Roanoke. The business is at the corner of Bridge Street and Russell Avenue, not far from Walker Machine and Foundry.
Video from a witness shows one person being taken to the hospital on a stretcher. A large crowd was gathered in front of the business.
The victim, who has not been named, was shot multiple times. He is at Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital, where his condition is stable, according to police.
Police were on the scene for hours. They taped off the area.
Police have not yet made any arrests.
People who live in the area tell 10 News that the police are frequently called to the location for disturbances.