CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – There are still a lot of questions about the shooting that happened over the weekend in downtown Clarksville that remain unanswered. However, the general manager at Hookah 21 said their bar is not to blame.
On Monday, Clarksville Now received comments from King’s Bluff Brewery co-founder Dustyn Brewer, who said there have been a variety of problems outside Hookah 21. Kings Bluff sits next to Hookah 21, and Brewer attributed the shooting as another act of violence in a long line of disturbances to happen outside the neighboring bar.
Hookah 21 responds
Hookah 21 general manager Abdul Thaqil told Clarksville Now that he doesn’t understand the allegations of violence against the bar, noting that many other establishments have also had their own set of issues.
“I just don’t understand why people would go so hard as to make everything seem so dangerous. It’s not that sort of situation. Hookah 21 has been around for 11 or 12 years, and I’m just not understanding why they’re going to the extremes that they are.”
In addition, Thaqil claims Sunday morning’s shooting was in no way related to the bar. He told Clarksville Now that no one was ejected from the bar and that the victim found outside had never even been in the bar that night. The general manager also noted he was unsure about the shooter, as the shooter fled the scene and remains unidentified.
“The shooting there had nothing to do with Hookah 21.” Thaqil said. “In fact, the location of where the shooting happened was on the side of the building. It wasn’t in front of Hookah 21. It was more so between the church parking lot and the apartment building there.”
Thaqil told Clarksville Now that he was present the night of the shooting and explained what he saw that night.
“I’d say close to 2 o’clock, that’s normally when we start to shut things down as people are walking out, we get a notification that there’s been shots fired. We have people rush back in. Our security is fanning to figure out what’s going on. I also walk outside and make sure that the door is closed behind me and that everybody is secure on the inside. We walk up on a young black male who had a gunshot wound to his leg and EMS was called, police were called, and that was it.”
CPD releases more information
Lt. Charles Gill with the Clarksville Police Department said officers responded to 528 Main Street in reference to two gunshot victims around 1:58 p.m. on Oct 23. Police said the incident occurred in the Hookah 21 parking lot, 138 University Ave.
The release said that after the shots were fired, a vehicle fled the scene toward the downtown area. Detectives have located the vehicle involved in the shooting but have been unable to identify the two unknown suspects within the vehicle.
If anyone has any information or witnessed the incident and is willing to cooperate, please call Detective Headly at (931) 648-0656 ext. 5683. To remain anonymous and be eligible for a cash reward, call the Clarksville Montgomery County Crime Stoppers Tipsline at (931) 645-8477 or go online and submit a tip at P3tips.com/591.