Little Rock club’s liquor license remains suspended after shooting

LITTLE ROCK—The liquor license of a Little Rock nightclub where a shooting during a rap concert left 28 people injured will remain suspended pending an investigation of possible violations, the Arkansas Alcohol Beverage Control Board said Monday.

Power Ultra Lounge’s liquor license was suspended soon after the July 1 shooting during a concert by rapper Ricky Hampton, also known as Finese2Tymes.

Nightclub owner Herman Lewis did not testify during the hearing Monday. His attorney, Ronald L. Davis, told The Associated Press last week that Lewis wouldn’t fight the city’s closure of his club and said he’s cooperating with law enforcement.

City officials said last week that they would move to close the club under a criminal abatement program. A representative for the landlord’s office later posted an eviction notice on a door to the club.

“Mr. Lewis is just as upset about this as everyone else,” Davis said last Monday.

Hampton was arrested in Alabama about 24 hours after the Little Rock shooting on outstanding charges of aggravated assault with a gun out of Forrest City in eastern Arkansas. That case is not related to the Little Rock one.

Little Rock police, who believe multiple shooters were involved in the gunfire at Power Ultra Lounge, are still investigating the incident.

Gov. Asa Hutchinson last week announced a multi-agency task force to help combat violence in Little Rock. Police responded to a dozen drive-by shootings in the nine days preceding the nightclub shooting.