Shooter awaits extradition from Fla.
By DON FLETCHER
News Staff Writer
Atmore City Council members, after a brief public hearing, voted unanimously at their November 13 meeting to revoke the license of a local club where three people were shot in the early hours of November 11.
Mayor Jim Staff opened the public hearing prior to the onset of the council meeting.
“This public hearing is to consider the revocation of the banquet-meeting hall business license issued to Mary Frye and Bobby Frye, doing business as Chick-A-Dee, The City Country Club, and to take comments and receive evidence from the public or Mary Frye and Bobby Frye concerning the potential revocation of the license,” the mayor said.
Neither of the license-holders attended the meeting, and no member of the public spoke for or against the measure, so Police Chief Chuck Brooks addressed the council.
“Sunday morning (November 11), at approximately 12:25 a.m., Atmore Police Department responded to the Assembly Hall, formerly known as the Chick-A-Dee, on Carver Avenue, in response to shots being fired inside the club,” Brooks explained. “When officers arrived they noticed a large crowd outside, fighting. They were able to regain order outside, then they were told that there was an individual inside that had been shot and needed medical assistance.”
Police later discovered that three people had actually been shot and that the two least-seriously injured had been taken by private vehicle to Atmore Community Hospital. An APD officer performed lifesaving measures until an ambulance crew arrived, and the critically wounded man was also taken to ACH.
He and the second-most seriously injured man were later airlifted to a Mobile hospital. The other man was treated at ACH and released.
“Our officers went inside the building, where there was additional fighting going on,” Brooks continued. “They were able to restore order inside and to also render medical attention to an individual that was shot, and one of the officers received minor bruises from a barstool that was thrown.
“Because of this, and because a gunman inside the club shot three individuals … I am asking that you revoke their business license.”
The public hearing was closed, and the revocation issue was the first agenda item dealt with by the council. All five voted in favor of revoking the permit, based on the provisions of Council Resolution 05-2016, which allowed the club to reopen after a closure for similar reasons.
Brooks also told council members that a Bay Minette man, 34-year-old Angi Lynn Baker, was arrested earlier that day in Pensacola, Fla., and charged with three counts of attempted murder.
In other action, the council voted unanimously to:
Accept an agreement for lighting at Interstate 65’s Exit 57. The mayor said Alabama Department of Transportation would pay 50 percent of the project’s cost; the city would pay 25 percent, and Poarch Band of Creek Indians would pay the other 25 percent. Work is expected to begin in December.
* Renewed a $2.5 million line of credit at First State Bank & Trust.
* Proclaimed Saturday, November 24, as Small Business Saturday in the city.
* Tabled an ordinance that would establish a historic preservation commission until more information can be obtained.