Vista’s Empire Supper Club shut down for good

COLUMBIA, SC After meeting with the owner of the Empire Supper Club, Joe Stovall, and Stovall’s attorney, Bakari Sellers, on Tuesday, Columbia Police Chief Skip Holbrook said his decision to shutter the business on Lady Street is final.

The club was declared a public nuisance and padlocked Saturday by Holbrook after 8 people were injured in a shooting outside the business early Saturday morning.

Holbrook’s decision was announced in a brief statement to the media, released Thursday night:

“Chief Holbrook finalized his decision to revoke the city-issued business license of the Empire Supper Club this afternoon and served an official notice of his decision on Bakari Sellers, the attorney for the business owner. On the advice of the City Attorney, the Police Department cannot comment further on this matter.”

“The city needed a scapegoat,” Sellers said in response to the chief’s decision.

“The CPD with the help of the Empire Supper Club, did an amazing job” apprehending the people responsible for the shooting, Sellers said, but, “they did not want an urban element in the city and now they don’t have one.”

Sellers said he had not received the official notice and had not discussed the chief’s decision with his client.

During Tuesday’s meeting, Stovall laid out specific steps he was willing to make to ensure the safety of the public and his customers if allowed to remain in operation, Columbia Police Department spokeswoman Jennifer Timmons said Tuesday night.

This story was originally published September 21, 2017 at 10:01 PM with the headline "Vista’s Empire Supper Club shut down for good."