Owner: Jacksonville hookah lounge closes after deadly shooting

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A family is grieving and a business owner is considering closing his doors following a deadly shooting outside a Westside hookah lounge early Monday morning.

Police are investigating after a man was killed and cars were hit by bullets outside Charlie's Liquor and Charlie's Hookah Lounge on Normandy Boulevard.

The owner said, out of respect for what happened, he was closing the hookah lounge.

He said there were four security guards on staff Sunday night for Memorial Day and pointed out that the shooting took place outside.

Police said an argument turned violent and several shots were fired, adding that witnesses took the man with the gunshot wound to the hospital where he died.

Two weeks ago, at almost the same time, just after 1 a.m., another shooting took place across the street in the Winn-Dixie parking lot.

News from the First Coast spoke with Paul Clark who shops there to get his reaction to the violence.

“What they need to do is put down their weapons,” he said.

Police said that during the shooting Monday morning, there were more than 100 people in the hookah lounge.

News from the First Coast Crime and safety expert Ken Jefferson explained what people should do if they find themselves in this situation.

“If you're just a bystander and you see an argument going on and someone presents a gun, you need to get out of there, because who knows the state of mind of the person who has the gun? “weapon,” Jefferson said.

Police are still looking for a suspect. As for the victim, his family members share their grief on social networks.

Investigators are trying to determine if the people involved in the shooting knew each other.

News from the First Coast asked JSO if they could increase patrols in that area, but didn't get a response, despite it being Memorial Day.

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call JSO's non-emergency number at 904-630-0500 or, to remain anonymous, call Crime Stoppers at 1-866-845-TIPS.