INDIANAPOLIS — Matthew Gallagher said that, in the last month, he’s become accustomed to the sounds of screams, screeching tires and gunfire coming from the parking lot of Club Paradise — a strip club located in the 5200 block of English Avenue.
”When I hear the gunfire, it wakes me up very suddenly, and I have to hit the floor,” Gallagher said. ”I try to avoid the living room around 3 a.m., and I try to stay alert that it could happen at any time.”
The most recent 3 a.m. gunfire rang out Sunday morning as metro police reported a man was wounded. The incident marked the third time in the last month that officers have investigated a shooting connected to the bar.
”The first one at the beginning of April, a bullet came through my window and into my living room,” said Gallagher, pointing out a ding in the wall above his couch where the round came to rest. ”About four days ago, there was another shooting and someone else was hurt and taken to the hospital. And today, somebody was taken away in an ambulance in a third shooting, so that’s three in the last month.”
Gallagher said police told him they found a gun in the parking lot this afternoon.
”It’s a dangerous situation, and I hope it comes to an end soon,” Gallagher added.
Another area resident told FOX59 and CBS4 that, for years, the bar was a quiet neighbor until a new manager recently took over, and Gallagher agreed that’s when the trouble started.
”Definitely a lot more crowded and a lot less restrained,” Gallagher said. “There’s been loud music, people revving their engines, people fighting even without guns. There’s frequently fights and people screaming, and when you hear the screaming, you kind of brace because it may or may not result in gunfire coming after. A little bit too crowded maybe, a little bit too wild and people hanging out in their cars probably leads to other things that aren’t allowed in the bar.”
Gallagher said the manager offered to pay for his shot out window and told him that she was attempting to add more security to her parking lot while blaming outsiders who did not enter her bar for the trouble.
The neighbors have been told that the Marion County Alcoholic Beverage Board may consider the status of the bar’s liquor license at an upcoming hearing June 3.
Club Paradise was closed Sunday, and its management was unavailable for comment.
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