KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Owners of a Westport club that is associated with a deadly shooting last Saturday said they have been “prohibited” from inclusion in the district’s enhanced security.
Throwback KC posted on its Facebook page Wednesday afternoon that the club is “cooperating fully” with Kansas City, Missouri, police as they investigate a shooting that left one person dead and four people injured.
“We share Mayor Lucas’ concerns that more must be done to keep people safer throughout Kansas City,” the post read. “To that end, we are taking further measures to ensure the security of our patrons and the Westport area. They involve steps that will allow us to take part in the Westport summer security screenings that will begin in April – a program we have been prohibited from participating in for two years.”
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However, an official with the Westport Regional Authority told 41 Action News that is an “unfair” assessment.
The enhanced security, which was instituted in 2018, includes rules that businesses must agree to “in order to participate,” the official said. In Throwback KC’s case, the establishment is connected to Off Key and run by the same owners. The two businesses share restrooms and patrons can move freely between the Off Key and Throwback KC.
Throwback KC owner Aaron Beatty told 41 Action News that the business supported the Westport street vacation in 2017.
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The Westport Regional Authority said that the owners wanted only Throwback KC to be included in the enhanced security. Allowing that would have created a “security risk,” the official said.
“Someone could enter thru Off Key with a gun and either exit thru Throwback or pass a gun to someone in Throwback and then bypass screening and enter the District,” the official said.
In order for the district to accept Throwback KC into the enhanced security, a wall would have had to be constructed and separate restrooms installed.
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“Throwback owners didn’t want that,” according to the Westport Regional Authority. “They wanted to be allowed in Westport screenings even though their operation created this risk for the whole district.”
However, Beatty noted that the summer security program “would not have helped this situation.”
In Throwback KC’s Facebook post, the business condemned the shooting.
