KANSAS CITY, Mo — It has been just over a week since the 9ine Ultra Lounge shooting, and the bar is now closed.
Kansas City’s Regulated Industries has informed owner and former Chiefs player Alfonso Hodge the bar has failed its probationary period. In order to keep the liquor license, Hodge will have to get consent from neighbors to continue doing business at that location, among other things.
Meanwhile, FOX4 is learning more about what may have happened the night of the mass shooting.
Police say Jahron Swift killed one woman and injured 15 others before a security guard at 9ine Ultra Lounge shot and killed him.
In an exclusive interview, a witness told FOX4 what happened before the deadly shooting could have contributed to the tragedy. The witness asked not to be identified because they’re afraid of retribution.
“If you had money, if you want to pay the security guards, the security guards would get you in,” the witness said.
This witness said he was one of the people standing in line at the 9ine Ultra Lounge when people waiting to get in began getting irritated that others were paying to cut the line.
“When it was all said and done, when the crowd got in the door and they couldn’t let nobody in, I actually witnessed a security guard pull his gun out — fired two shots, two shots to get the crowd to scatter,” the witness said.
“Once the crowd scattered, everybody got trampled. I got trampled, a couple people in my party got trampled.”
The witness remembers Swift standing close to him.
“Yeah, he was in line and got trampled. He was like, ‘Can I get my phone? Can I get my phone?’ And one of the security guard said, ‘F*** you and your phone.’ His exact words,” the witness said. “They wouldn’t let him get his phone after he got trampled the first time. They jumped on him, maced him.”
After that, the witness said he saw Swift walk away.
KCPD confirms that 30 minutes before Swift began his shooting rampage, they got a call of shots fired at The 9ine Ultra Lounge. But responding officers didn’t find any shell casings, and the crowd didn’t report seeing anyone shoot. KCPD said officers made a report then cleared the scene.
One minute after they left, another call came in for shots fired. This time, the police and witness say it was Swift.
“Looking out the window, you see him come up and he starts firing,” the witness said of Swift’s actions. “Once he starts firing, everybody jump down. I looked back. He’s running across the parking lot and (security is) firing rounds shooting at him.”
FOX4 talked to a spokesperson for Total Care, the company that contracts security at the 9ine Ultra Lounge. The spokesperson said she can’t say if a security guard shot off a gun because she was inside. But she said the guards at the door do not carry.
She said security guards were not taking bribes, but it is common for clubs to have a cut line where people can pay extra to get in faster.
When asked about the cut line, club owner Alphonso Hodge replied via text, “We have a general admission line and a VIP line, that’s it. The VIP line is for table reservations.”
KCPD said they are aware of people saying there were shots fired by security before the mass shooting, but no witnesses have said that in their official reports to police.
