Metro Nashville police raided and padlocked a Midtown business early Wednesday morning citing violence, drug activity and a drain on officers' resources.

The operation took place just after 3:20 a.m., police spokesman Don Aaron said, when officers stormed the Ultra Lounge at 1805 Church Street and shut it down after a judge declared it a public nuisance.

The nightclub, also once known as Medusa Hookah Bar & Lounge and Indian Queen Lounge & Bar, is owned by Anthony Dewayne Powell and has repeatedly been a location for violence, including fights and one criminal homicide, as well as for drug and gang activity, Aaron said.

Powell, a convicted felon with drug convictions, is prohibited from owning or possessing a gun. In May 2018, a .357 revolver was found at the desk inside his office at the bar, Aaron said.

An arrest warrant for Powell has been issued charging him with unlawful gun possession by a convicted felon

A temporary injunction and padlocking order was issued by Criminal Court Judge Steve Dozier, and it prohibits Powell and two other owners of the establishment, Ankit Hemant Jariwala and Brian M. Jernigan, as well as anyone associated with them from entering the building until a hearing is held on March 6.

Midtown Hills Precinct undercover detectives began an investigation of the business in May due to voluminous police responses and complaints from other area businesses.

City records show there have been 84 documented police and fire department responses to the nightclub since January 2015, with one of the most recent being in the early morning hours of Feb. 20, when a man exited the business after an argument, went to his car, retrieved an assault-type rifle and began firing multiple rounds into the air.

The suspect, 20-year-old Marion Blue of Memphis, was arrested. The responses to the club were for a variety of issues including shootings, fights, drug issues, thefts, noise complaints and alarm calls.

On April 26, 2016, 24-year-old Oshay Rutledge was killed on Eighth Avenue North as he neared the nightclub, where he was to have attended a party. He ran to the establishment after being fatally wounded. His cousin was ultimately charged with homicide, which detectives believe was connected to illegal drug activity.

Then on May 1, 2018, an exchange of gunfire between two groups of men inside the nightclub resulted in the death of 21-year-old Marqondis Thompson. David Young, 22, was also shot.

Police identified Deion Woodruff, 23, as the shooter, who was himself found fatally shot at the intersection of 32nd Avenue North and Clifton Avenue on Aug. 9, 2018.

Aaron said North Precinct Detective Jason Frank is continuing to pursue leads in Woodruff’s homicide.

On at least two occasions in 2018, the Tennessee Alcoholic Beverage Commission found that the nightclub was serving alcohol to underage persons.

The judge's order also cited complaints from businesses neighboring the bar, some claiming to have spent thousands of dollars on security to help their counseling clients feel safe.

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This is a developing story.