By Tim Potter
The Wichita Eagle, Kan.
WICHITA, Kan. — In response to a gang shooting that killed a Wichita bar owner earlier this month, police are planning a citywide campaign to warn neighborhood bars about gangs.
The idea is to prevent violence and alert club owners that gangs could be trying to set up new hangouts in their businesses, Deputy Chief Tom Stolz said.
Officers will be visiting the clubs and spreading the message soon. The outreach will focus on smaller bars that don’t have all the security staff and safety measures of larger clubs.
Already, police had targeted some bars that cater to gangs. As a result, Stolz said, some gangs have been looking for new hangouts.
Gangs try to move in and take control of little venues like Half-Time Sports Bar, at Harry and Hillside, where owner 42-year-old Teresa Hastings was fatally shot June 5, said Lt. Jeff Easter, head of the police anti-gang unit.
“She’s pretty much trying to keep the gang members from taking over her bar, is why she is killed,” Easter said.
The gang members, who were wearing their signature color, refused to show a bar employee their IDs, and Hastings wouldn’t let them in, Easter said. Following an argument, someone fired shots toward the bar from the parking lot, hitting Hastings and an employee; the employee was wounded.
Gang members try to intimidate and bribe their way into bars, Stolz said.
Bars give them a hideout to avoid other gangs, he said. Sometimes employees contribute to the problem by warning gang members when police arrive.
The campaign is aimed at preventing any kind of disturbances from occurring at bars, not just gang-related violence, police say.
The message will include basic anti-crime reminders for bar owners, asking them to immediately report disturbances or weapons by calling 911 and not intervening, to report suspicious or aggressive activity and to make clear to people entering bars that their identification will be checked.
In the Hastings shooting, police last week identified Donavan L. Thompson, 20, as a suspect.
Police described Thompson as 6 feet tall, 165 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes. He often wears his hair in braids and goes by the street name Scrap.
Police asked that anyone with information about the case or Thompson’s whereabouts call the homicide section at 316-268-4181.
Copyright 2007 The Wichita Eagle