ATLANTA — A man is dead after police said they found him shot in the street outside a popular downtown Atlanta bar on Thursday night.
Atlanta Police said they were called to Encore Hookah Bar & Bistro at 320 Luckie Street just before midnight to reports of a person shot.
Officers arrived on the scene to find the victim, at this time only described as an adult male, unresponsive and suffering from a gunshot wound. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Witnesses told police that a vehicle stopped near the victim and a passenger got out and shot him before leaving. Police were withholding the victim's name pending notification of his family.
Police also cautioned that details surrounding the incident could change from the preliminary report as more information comes to light.
The deadly shooting is just the latest act of violence in close proximity to one of the city's many popular clubs and bars.
In November, Chicago rapper King Von was killed outside the Monaco Hookah Lounge in Downtown. And a 25-year-old Marine was shot and killed outside the Up Lounge in Midtown.
More recently, seven people were stabbed at Repulic Lounge when a brawl broke out in the club. In the days that followed, yet another moment of violence erupted, this one outside Buckhead's Blue Restaurant and lounge around 2 a.m. on Jan. 3. In it, someone opened fire on several people on the sidewalk, injuring three.
Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms attributes the increase in violence to outsiders from other states coming to Georgia due to its relative open status amid the COVID pandemic.
"When the nightclubs are closed in Chicago, people are coming to Atlanta to party," Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said during a recent public safety meeting.
The mayor's response to this and record homicide numbers in 2020 has included the creation of the "One Atlanta: One APD Immediate Action Plan" which hopes to address the crime itself as well as "systemic issues that lead to violence."
