Gunshots rang out in Preston Plaza Shopping Center around 1:50am on Thursday, November 15. One bullet wound up in the leg of a 20-year-old Louisa County resident. Where it began remains to be seen.
 "These kids are crazy, man," says Outback Lodge Manager Terry Martin. "I’ve gotta cancel a night to keep the place open." |
The gunshots came near the conclusion of Outback Lodge’s fourth weekly "Underground Hip Hop Night," with sets by locals Heavy Hustle Enterprises and artists Jigz and Bobby Capri. Earlier in the evening, Outback security guards ushered a man out through the music venue’s glass doors into the parking lot, and another man asked the off-duty officers from the Charlottesville Police Department to allow him back into the venue, despite a cut spilling blood from the side of his hand, which he attributed to broken glass.
By roughly noon the next day, Outback Lodge Manager Terry Martin (who ran the sound board for the concert on Wednesday night) had spoken with city Police Chief Tim Longo for about an hour and agreed to cancel the hip-hop nights, according to the wishes of the venue’s landlord.
"These kids are crazy, man," Martin says. "I’ve gotta cancel a night to keep the place open."
In an e-mail, Longo writes that he and Martin discussed "events management, physical security of the property, access control and a continued cooperation with police to ensure that incidents such as that which occurred last week and have occurred in the past do not continue.
"[Martin] acknowledges his responsibility of ensuring a safe environment for his patrons, while at the same time ensuring that the business does not adversely affect the adjacent residential neighborhoods," says Longo, who characterized their meeting as "very productive."
The history of Outback’s Wednesday hip-hop nights in the basement dates back seven or eight years, by Martin’s estimate, and packed as many as 60 to 70 enthusiastic dancers beneath the floors of the main performance space on the night of the shooting. On the lower level, a wide range of ages grooved to Kanye West and more between live acts. Martin had cancelled hip-hop nights previously ("I stayed away from hip-hop since 2006," he says) but had resurrected the dance event this summer.
Both Martin and show promoter Jeyon Falsini speak to the presence of security within the Outback Lodge on Wednesday night, a force Martin says was six members strong and frisking each guest at the doorway to the venue the night of the shooting.
"We found a way to create peace in the club," Falsini says. "If any fights broke out, they were neutralized in seconds. But when they get out to the parking lot, it’s out of our hands, unless police officers are wise enough or have the manpower to populate the parking lot."
At present, no suspect has been charged with the shooting. On Friday, November 16, local news sources announced that Jermaine Derek Harris, 25 years old, was charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon on the night of the shooting. At press time, Longo says that no additional charges have been filed in the shooting.
The Outback Lodge’s website had not posted cancellations of the venue’s hip-hop night as of press time, but 22-year-old Quentin "Q*Black" Walker, scheduled to perform on Wednesday, November 21, confirmed the cancellation of his show.
"Half these kids don’t know what hard is, what a real gangster is," says Martin. "All they know is what they see in the movies."
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