Fatal shooting outside Milwaukee bar makes some wonder what more business owners can do

A club on Milwaukee’s northwest side, which had its license suspended 20 days last year out of safety concerns, was the scene of shootings early Sunday that killed a security guard and injured two other people.

The incident happened at 1 a.m. Sunday outside the doors of Eve Lounge, 6222 W. Fond du Lac Ave., after several men were asked to leave and security attempted to de-escalate an argument, according to Thomas Holmes, the business owner.

Police said they seek unknown suspects.

The shooting drew comparisons to other incidents in recent years in which a business removed one or more people from its establishment, only for gun violence to erupt outside the doors.

“It’s a terrible situation,” said Ald. Mark Chambers, who represents the area and voted to suspend Eve Lounge’s license last year. “The bar did exactly what it was supposed to do. They ejected the gentlemen out the club.”

The shootings killed 26-year-old Andre A. Gregory of Milwaukee and wounded two 34-year-olds. The conditions of the two who shot and injured were not released.

Holmes said Gregory was hired through a contractor and worked at the club off and on for about a year. According to social media posts from friends, he attended Vincent High School.

His sister, Jamilla Gregory, set up a GoFundMe page to help pay for funeral expenses. She wrote that her brother was “loved by everyone that had the pleasure of knowing him.”

Holmes called Gregory an excellent worker.

“He was a kind, humble person, quiet,” Holmes said. “He did his job. People loved him, customers loved him. He was one of the best security guards that we had — the overall presentation and the way he handled his position.”

Fight escalated after four men left the club, owner says

At one point earlier in the night, Holmes said, three men entered the club and approached another man who was eating food. Holmes thought things looked tense when he noticed finger-pointing and twice asked them to calm down.

The men apologized and everyone eventually moved outside, along with Holmes and Gregory. There, the confrontation escalated when one man swung at another. Holmes said he and Gregory tried to prevent any physical fight.

However, a vehicle pulled up and additional people climbed out.

“Then all we heard was pop-pop-pop,” Holmes said.

He believes Gregory was not the intended target.

“We’re just dealing with it right now,” Holmes said, when asked how the rest of the staff is doing. “It’s a bad situation.”

2023 shooting at Eve Lounge resulted in license suspension

Eve Lounge came under scrutiny last year with the city’s Licenses Committee, which Chambers sits on, but also received support and words of confidence from community members who spoke at the hearing and from Chambers himself.

The main issue during that June hearing was an incident in February 2023, in which an employee shot another man who rented space in the club’s kitchen.

According to police records, none of the other six employees reported the incident to police. And when officers did arrive, employees were cleaning the place and did not appear to be forthcoming about what happened. Holmes was not on site during the incident.

Chambers said during the hearing it seemed as if the staff tried covering up what happened, according to minutes from the meeting.

Holmes said he had since fired everyone involved in the incident, began instituting background checks to all new hires and would install new security cameras and outdoor lighting.

Although he still voted in favor of a 20-day license suspension, Chambers said at the time he considered Holmes a respectable business owner.

On Monday, when asked if he still had confidence in Holmes, Chambers said, “I don’t know,” saying he was awaiting more information about the incident. He also emphasized the need to allow everyone who knew Gregory to grieve.

“Dealing with stuff like licensing can be handled at another time,” he said. “The community will definitely have an input. That establishment lost a family member. A family lost their son, brother, nephew because of it and two other individuals got hurt.”

Alderman is confident that business took steps to improve safety

But Chambers also felt confident that Holmes took action to improve safety at the club since the 2023 shooting. He said Holmes hosted community meetings, maintained communication with city officials and police and installed more lighting and cameras.

Holmes, and Chambers, to a lesser extent, emphasized that sometimes there is only so much a business can do to prevent violence among its patrons.

Chambers compared the incident to one in 2022, where a worker was shot and killed after a man was denied entry to a downtown club, and to a 2023 shooting, where five people were injured outside of a northwest side bar.

“It’s not entirely on the owner,” he said. “People make decisions.”

Holmes argued there are just too many people carrying guns and not enough of them are considering the lives of others.

“It hasn’t just happened in my establishment. It happens everywhere,” he said. “People need to think and start being more respectful of other people and stop this gun violence. It’s out of control. You go up and down the street and I guarantee you it’s eight out of 10 cars that got guns in them. A lot of it is illegal, but that’s just the way things are now.”

How to contact police

Anyone with any information is asked to contact Milwaukee Police at 414-935-7360 or to remain anonymous, contact Crime Stoppers at 414-224-Tips or use the P3 Tips app.

Where to find conflict mediation and crisis support

• 414Life outreach and conflict mediation support: 414-439-5398
• Milwaukee County’s 24-Hour Mental Health Crisis Line: 414-257-7222
• Milwaukee’s Child Mobile Crisis and Trauma Response Team: 414-257-7621
• National crisis text line: text HOPELINE to 741741 to text with a trained crisis counselor
• National Suicide Prevention Hotline: Call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org

Contact Elliot Hughes at elliot.hughes@jrn.com or 414-704-8958. Follow him on X at @elliothughes12.