Security officer injuries and deaths at illegal or questionable businesses increasing
Charlotte NC October 15 2019
For years, Private Officer International has been reporting on security officer injuries and deaths occurring at businesses that often times were not legally being operated or who were skirting the line between legal and illegal.
Now, a new study shows that security officer injuries and deaths at illegal or questionable businesses have increased 41% during the past twenty-four months.
Early Sunday morning, two Nashville security officers were shot at a Hookah bar by a patron who was causing a disturbance.
The man fled and the security officers were rushed to an area hospital in serious condition.
This was not the first time that there have been incidents involving private security at Nashville area hookah lounges.
In November 2018, a security officer was stabbed during a confrontation and in May of 2018, private security was involved in a shooting at the Medusa Nashville on Church Street where one person was killed.
Another shooting also occurred at the Lebanon Knights Hookah Bar on Charlotte Pike in January.
And police also investigated another fatal shooting by security guards at an east Nashville hookah bar where one man was killed in December 2017.
Also, over the weekend, a security guard was shot and killed in Brooklyn where he and an off-duty corrections officer were providing security for an after-hours dice game.
One of the men playing cards became unruly after losing and pulled a gun and began shooting people when the security guard shot him and was shot in return. Four people died; others were injured by gunfire.
Another high-risk business that we’ve reported on for a number of years where many security officers have been shot and killed or where they have had to kill others during robberies are again in the spotlight.
In Texas, Louisiana, Florida, North Carolina and other states, Internet Cafes also called Adult Arcades, have popped up in backrooms of gas stations, bars and stand alone businesses professing to be legitimate businesses that offer winners prizes while in reality, these businesses pay out in cash, making them high risk targets for robberies.
In August, a security officer in Jacksonville Florida lost his life during a robbery at one such business.
The security officer on duty at the High Score Arcade was killed on a Monday when several men tried to rob the business.
Clyde Anthony Hamilton was rushed to a hospital after being shot but passed away soon afterwards.
In March of 2018, a Jacksonville security officer working at the Spin City Sweepstakes shot three people, killing two of them, during a robbery attempt.
And in December of 2018, another Jacksonville security officer on duty at the Cyber Spot, an internet cafe located at 7900 103rd St. shot a man there who was trying to rob the business.
The mayor of Jacksonville Florida announced just this week that he has signed a new law that makes Internet Cafes or Adult Arcades illegal in the city.
Also, in Florida, a security officer assigned to another Internet Café shot and critically injured a man trying to rob that business.
A person carrying a semi-automatic handgun entered the Internet cafe in Lady Lake, Florida, and was shot by a security officer.
In Columbus Ohio, in January of this year, another Internet Café robbery resulted in the death of another security officer.
Two other security officers have been shot this year, also during robberies at Adult Arcades.
Lancaster California also reported last year in October that armed security personnel used deadly force against a man trying to rob an Internet Café there. The suspect succumbed to his injuries and a second man fled the business after being shot
Also, police in Bakersfield California reported that a security officer was shot in 2018 during a robbery of an Internet Café.
Police were able to make two arrests in that incident.
Authorities have also been called out to similar businesses for security officers being shot in North Carolina, Texas, Virginia and Florida.
In October 2018, the Volusia Sheriff’s Office in Florida shut down 17 illegal internet cafes after a court’s decision making the businesses unlawful.
Other questionable businesses where security officers have been injured or killed have included “after-hour” parties, private parties at residences and rented space including VFW and American Legion halls, dance clubs and at “pop-up” parties.
