The family of a victim killed in a fatal shooting outside an Atlanta club has called for it to be shut down.
Kirey Thompson, 28, was killed in a shooting at 3:15 a.m. New Year's Day, 11-ALIVE reported. Police stated that the shooting happened outside Lacura Bar & Bistro, 1919 Metropolitan Pkwy SW, in Atlanta.
Police stated that an argument began inside the establishment, and security pushed it outside. From there, the situation escalated into gunfire.
Thompson was killed in the shooting. Police stated that a 48-year-old man and a 41-year-old man were wounded. Those two men were transported to a hospital and were in stable condition.
"This place needs to be shutdown," Thompson's aunt, Brenda, told 11-ALIVE. "There wasn't enough security, and families shouldn't have to go through this."
The club announced on Instragram that it was closed indefinitely.
The station reported that police previously responded to gunfire at Lacura in April 2024. In that instance, a group was told to leave, and someone fired at the building, but no one was injured. In May 2021, a 15-year-old was charged with killing a 29-year-old at the location, 11-ALIVE reported. The station stated that there had been 26 incidents involving the police at the location in the last year.
Thompson was a graduate of Clark Atlanta University where he had played football. Family members told 11-ALIVE that he was shot nine times. They said the tragedy was compounded by the fact that his older brother, Cardarius, also was lost to gun violence.
"This family is devastated," Thompson's cousin, Brianna Cheeks, told 11-ALIVE. "We've already lost his older brother, Cardarius, to gun violence. Literally the same way. Now, we're grieving the same loss all over again."
