The Birmingham City Council on Tuesday revoked the business license for Skky Nightclub in Five Points South due to recent acts of violence and for being a drain on police resources.

"It is long past time for us to take action when people are afraid to walk the streets of your premiere entertainment (district)," said City Council President Valerie Abbott. The club is located in her council district.

She said the club has kept some businesses from locating there.

"When I walk down there, I don't want to get shot either," Abbott said. "I don't want to be afraid either, but I am."

After about an hour and a half of discussion, the council voted unanimously to revoke Skky Nightclub's business license and to rescind the resolutions that granted the club its business and liquor licenses.

Summer Childers, licensing director for the Alabama Alcoholic Beverage Control Board, said Skky was fined for violating ABC regulations, including the terms of their private club license by letting in non-members and not keeping membership records.

"They weren't operating as a private club," she said.

Skky Nightclub owner Dan Cooper said his club is being treated unfairly and differently than other clubs in the area.

He claimed that fights have broke out at other clubs, but the city isn't trying to revoke their business licenses.

"There is violence that goes on in Five Points South," he said.

Councilor Steven Hoyt, who served as the chairman of the council's public safety committee, showed a video during Tuesday morning's show cause hearing that showed a fight that took place inside the club on Labor Day weekend.

Two men were injured in a shooting near Skky Nightclub in the early morning hours of Saturday, Sept. 2. Just prior to the shooting, Birmingham police believe the victims were involved in an altercation inside the club.

Police closed down the club that night due to a fight that security was unable to control, police said. At least one business and vehicle were damaged by gunfire that night.

Sgt. John Green, South Precinct's night shift supervisor, recounted the night's events during Tuesday's hearing.

After the fight broke out, he said a security officer at the club called for assistance. Green was one of the officers who responded.

"When I arrived, the place was in complete chaos," Green said. "Chairs turned over. People still making threats. People holding each other back, trying to stop them from fighting," he said.

Green said he told the DJ to close down the club.

When the club let out, though, the men who were inside and possibly fighting, drove around to The Break and shot two adult black men, he said.

"When I was on the scene performing CPR on one of those males, we had another shooting that occurred on the other side of the club. They had just left the club as well," he said.

Another officer caught up with the group that was shooting, Green said. Inside their vehicle they found AK-47s and a shotgun. He said the men said told him they had just left the club.

Green said club patrons wear gang clothing. The DJ plays "fight music.



"The way they promote its like they want crime to happen," he said.

Cooper called the Labor Day incident a "horrible event.

"It was one of the worst mistakes that I made in my entire life," he said.

Cooper said he should have never let that promoter come in that weekend and hold a live rap concert.

On Memorial Day weekend, Birmingham police officers also had to close down the club due to an altercation.

In May 2016, a man was shot in the leg while inside the club. The man suffered non-life threatening injuries.

South Precinct Capt. Ron Sellers said he has observed overcrowding at the club. The department is using multiple cars to block 11th Avenue, 20th Street and 19th Street to deal with the crowds that are coming out of the club.

He said he routinely has to pull officers from other beats to work crowd control and respond to other incidents related to Skky.

No other clubs in his precinct, which also includes Lakeview and Avondale, causes these issues, Sellers said.

He said the club owner has been notified of the complaints and the issues the police department has with the club for over a year. The owner hasn't addressed the issues brought to him such as allowing patrons under the age of 21 into the club, Sellers said.

Skky attorney Henry Walker said there's no evidence that violence occurs at the club every weekend.

"There is strong exaggeration of the problems that occur at Skky," he said.

Skky has more security than they are required to have by law, Walker said. They are required to have one security guard for every 75 patrons, but they have one for every 30.