LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The owner of a west Louisville nightclub is calling it quits following a shooting that left two dead this weekend.
Louisville Metro Police Department said two men were shot and killed at Cole's Event Center at around 3 a.m. Sunday.
The owner's son, Jonathan Cole, was there the night of the shooting -- and said despite doing their best to keep their doors open for the past 13 years, it is time for the place to close.
"[We're] done with the nightlife club," Cole said. "It's just out of hand, and honestly it's not no fun to me, so whenever the fun goes away...it's just time for something else."
Cole said a normal Saturday night at the property turned sideways when a fight broke out. Two men, 26-year-old Robert Webb Jr. and 29-year-old Juan Foster, were shot in the parking lot. Cole said the two came to the nightclub often.
"After a fight, I make it my personal issue to shut it down because I know the effect of what a fight can lead to," Cole said. "I guess this time it just went to the next level."
The popular business is no stranger to violent incidents. In 2015, eight people were shot at Cole's. In 2018, one shooting injured seven people. When another shooting occurred, the nightclub was shut down.
Eventually, though, it reopened as an event space.
"People were just knocking on the door asking, 'Can I use the venue,' because it's nowhere around in the inner city for the people to go to," Cole said.
Cole said they tried to increase safety and make ends meet, spending thousands on security every week.
"For 13 years, this has been our income, so we can't just up and say we done with it," Cole said.
But after two more lives lost, he said it was time to part ways with the nightlife scene.
"It's crime everywhere in the city...like if you look at the news, it ain't nothing but shooting, shooting, shooting, shooting, shooting," Cole said. "So it ain't just here and it ain't just the only club that have shootings around."
While the future of the space is still unknown, Cole said they are hoping to host a "Stop the Gun Violence" event on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
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