KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The license of a business allegedly operating illegally as a nightclub, where a mass shooting took place in June, has been revoked as an act of Kansas City, Missouri’s serious commitment to “the safety of our residents and visitors," KCMO Mayor Quinton Lucas announced Tuesday.
Friday, Lucas shared a letter he penned asking Mari Ruck, KCMO commissioner of revenue, to revoke the license of businesses at 5644 Prospect Avenue and 5646 Prospect Avenue due to “threats to public health, safety and welfare of ongoing business operations.”
Perfect Touch Auto, one of the businesses listed in the letter, was holding a private gathering on June 25 when the shooting took place next to the business.
Three were killed — 28-year-old Jasity Strong, 29-year-old Camden Brown and 22-year-old Nikko Manning — and six were injured in the incident.
Kevin M. Greene, 26, was later charged with three counts of second-degree murder and three counts of armed criminal action on June 27.
In the hours after the shooting, Perfect Touch owner Nate Gadson addressed allegations his business was illegally operating as a club.
"When something bad happens, it's whoever is the closest around — it's their fault. I understand how things happen," Gadson previously told KSHB 41. "I don't condone none of the violence because we got babies out here. We want them to live longer than us. They're dying faster, and we burying our kids."
Per documents included in the mayor’s tweets Tuesday, the revocation comes after “reports and witness statements over the past year” that indicate the businesses tied to the address were violating multiple codes: "misrepresentation or false statement, used for a purpose other from which it was issued, and the licensee has conducted the business premises in an unlawful manner or in such manner as to constitute a breach of the peace or a threat to public health, safety or welfare."
The City Revenue Division has now revoked the license of the business operating as an illegal nightclub at the center of last month’s mass shooting where three died.
— Mayor Q (@QuintonLucasKC) July 18, 2023
Every division of Kansas City government takes the safety of our residents and visitors seriously. https://t.co/JehF21rKtH pic.twitter.com/6jrS08I9ko
“Everyone, including our businesses, play a role in making our city safer by following the rules — and not operating outside the scope of their licenses,” Lucas tweeted. “Those who fail to follow the rules will face the same results.”
The business has the right to appeal.
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