Hotshots Bar and Grill's liquor license suspension upheld, but shortened

Cape Girardeau Liquor License Review Board members voted unanimously Thursday, March 30, to uphold, but shorten, the suspension of Hotshots Bar and Grill's liquor license.

The downtown Cape Girardeau business' license was suspended following a March 4 shooting in the location that resulted in five injured and three in custody.

The board decided upon a 10-day suspension. The start date of which will be announced in a letter sent out by the city manager's office.

The board members said Hotshots had violated section 5-53 of the city code -- which states that failing to prevent or suppress any "violent quarrel" is grounds for license suspension or revocation -- because they were responsible for the actions of the employee who failed to prevent the shooting by barring entry to the alleged gunman.

However, the board agreed that suspension should be shortened because of the preventative steps taken by Hotshots in the wake of the shooting and the fact it was its first time before the board.

The City of Cape Girardeau originally moved to suspend the liquor license of the downtown Cape Girardeau bar and grill less than two weeks after the shooting. The original suspension was to take effect March 24 and last 21 days, but was stayed after Hotshots said it would be filing an appeal.

Brandon Cooper, chief review officer for the board, said at the outset of the hearing that each side would get 15 minutes to make its case before the board and a three-minute rebuttal.

Erin Bradley, an attorney with Statler Lawyers in Cape Girardeau, represented Matt and Mark Hotop, co-owners of the bar and grill.

"My clients are here today to assure the board that Hotshots is deeply troubled by this (the shooting) and they're committed to making sure that this never happens again, that they have taken immediate action to protect their patrons," Bradley said.

In her statements, Bradley said the shooting was the result of negligence from one employee at Hotshots who failed to properly wand -- a hand-held device to scan for weapons -- the alleged shooters when they were entering the bar, allowing weapons onto the premises. She said that employee has since been terminated.

Wanding had become standard protocol for the bar a few months prior to the shooting, Bradley said. The measure was added after proper equipment was purchased from another business closing down. Bradley said only Hotshots and The Library -- a bar in downtown Cape Girardeau -- wand patrons prior to entry.

There were 40 seconds between the time the physical altercation began and the first shots fired, Bradley said. None of the bystanders in the immediate vicinity alerted the staff of the altercation, she added.

The attorney interviewed a patron present during the incident, who said they tried to reach a bartender to help break up the altercation but shots rang out before they reached the bar.

"So, as you can see, it was very quick," Bradley added.

Bradley said her clients had made substantial strides since the incident to prevent another one from happening. This included doubling the security force, adding a metal detector to the entrance of Hotshots, restricting the entry points with alarms on other doors and making a one-way exit gate.

She said the measures will help prevent people from bringing weapons into the establishment.

The business has also implemented an ID scanning app that will allow security employees to see whether a patron who is attempting to enter has been banned.

Matt Hotop, in later comments, said the business would be very strict with bans for any acts of violence. The length of those suspensions would be considerable.

Bradley said Hotshots had support from other local businesses and from Hotshots' corporate office.

"We want to eliminate that violence and we want to work with the city, not against the city," Bradley said.

Cape Girardeau police Lt. Brad Smith gave a significantly shorter presentation on behalf of the city. He focused on outlining previous calls of service to Hotshots and that the business had failed to prevent the shooting.

He gave board members a call log that documented 20 calls for service to the Hotshots address from February 2020 to March. Not all of the calls were for incidents inside the premises, he said. Bradley, in her rebuttal, argued that calls for service shouldn't be used against Hotshots because it showed that the business was cooperating with law enforcement and the number likely wouldn't stand out when compared to other addresses in the area.

Smith also said the city received emails from people identifying as former Hotshots employees who claimed some of the alleged perpetrators for the shooting had been banned from Hotshots previously. He did not say who was suspended and said he didn't have information on the timeline of the alleged suspensions.

Smith did praise Hotshots' steps taken in the wake of the shooting.

"In the past liquor license reviews, those that I had testified previously on, they just pretty much kind of roll with it and take the suspension and really don't show the effort put forward to improve their business," Smith said.

The police officer said Hotshots' measures go above and beyond that and appear to make Hotshots a safer establishment, but added "seeing is believing."

Matt Hotop gave the final remarks prior to board deliberation. He said his thoughts and prayers have continually been with those harmed by the incident and that Hotshots was doing everything it could to prevent something from happening in the future.

The board briefly went into closed session to discuss options before having a short, open deliberation followed by a vote.