Greensboro NC security guard stabbed, nightclub license suspended
GREENSBORO NC April 19 2021 — Less than a week after at least three people were stabbed at downtown bar Tranquilo, state officials suspended the bar’s alcohol permits.
Late Friday, the N.C. Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission said in a release it has suspended the ABC permits for the Greensboro nightclub at 221 S. Elm St.
The agency said it issued the suspension after reviewing sworn statements submitted by Greensboro police officers, special agents with N.C. Alcohol Law Enforcement and Greensboro civilians.
The bar has had ABC permits since June 2018, the agency said.
The suspension took effect immediately and remains in effect until the case is heard by the Office of Administrative Hearings.
The suspension comes just five days after at least three people were stabbed at the downtown nightclub, according to affidavits submitted with the suspension order.
Greensboro police spokesman Ron Glenn said previously that four victims, all of whom had injuries that were not life-threatening, were taken to a local hospital.
Documents with the suspension order show a fight broke out at the bar and restaurant about 6:30 p.m. April 11.
A security guard told an ALE investigator that video showed about 20 people were involved in the fight. He said the fight involved members of two gangs and started over one of the gang members snitching, according to the report.
Security guards tried to separate the two groups, pushing several people outside the gate. However, the group still inside started fighting with other people in the nightclub, according to the reports. One of the security guards was stabbed during this time.
The two other people stabbed told investigators they were trying to break up the fights.
In a span of about five minutes, there were three separate fights and shots were fired outside the building, according to the ALE officer’s report.
Customers from Tranquilo fled the violence to nearby restaurant Crafted: The Art of the Taco, the manager there said in an affidavit. Crafted’s manager said after he heard about 20 shots fired from near Tranquilo and saw people fleeing into his restaurant, he called 911.
The suspension report indicates Tranquilo received a warning notice in November 2020 after a report of pepper spray being used inside the nightclub and multiple fights that spilled onto the sidewalk and road, blocking the entrances to other businesses.
The latest violence prompted Mayor Nancy Vaughan to speak out on social media.
“We cannot turn a blind (eye) to businesses that have a history of operating in an unsafe manner,” she wrote in a Facebook post.
Greensboro City Council is looking at a safety/security ordinance focused on nightlife safety issues. Two virtual town halls are already planned to gather input on the ordinance, and more input will be sought, Vaughan has said.
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