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Photo credit: Tim Mossholder
Jack’s Bar and Grill, located off W Franklin Street in Hartwell, has closed its doors for good.
“We are closing,” Mark Hudson, owner of Jack’s said. “Actually, we’re closed already.”
The announcement comes after two people were shot and killed in the parking lot outside the late-night establishment in the early hours of Sept. 5. Roberius Thornton, 29, of Hartwell, was pronounced dead at the scene and Joseph Johnson, 25, of Canon, succumbed to injuries after being rushed to a local hospital.
No arrests were made immediately, with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation saying last week that no suspects had been identified. The GBI said in a statement that Hartwell Police responded to the incident at about 2:15 a.m. before turning the investigation over to the state agency. Two other people were hospitalized following the shooting according to a statement released by the GBI on Sept. 6.
“Several vehicles were hit by the multiple rounds fired,” the statement said.
The GBI did not respond to a request for updates on the investigation by press time.
Hudson turned in his business license on Tuesday, Sept. 13 after being notified that there would be a public hearing to determine whether his license should be revoked.
“We sent Mr. Hudson a letter last week notifying him that we were planning on having a hearing to possibly revoke his license,” Hartwell city manager Jon Herschell said. “We were going to have a public hearing, and that’s the process with an alcohol license if we feel like there is evidence of violation.
“Due to the events on Labor Day, we felt like [a hearing] was needed.”
Herschell said that his office reached out to Hudson again on Tuesday to reschedule the hearing, but his call was met with Hudson opting to turn in his business license.
“We went down to Jack’s [Tuesday] afternoon and got his license,” Herschell said. “He just voluntarily surrendered his license.
“I think he probably knew what he was up against, and he just felt like it was the best thing for the community.”
Hudson told The Hartwell Sun that he was already planning to close the business prior to the incident on Labor Day.
“Well basically, to be honest with ya’ll, our lease is up,” Hudson said. “We were planning on closing before the incident.”
On Sept. 6, the day following the incident, the Jack’s Facebook account shared the following statement:
“The incident that occurred early Monday morning in the parking lot was tragic. We are clueless to the events that led up to this horrific act. There were no prior incidents that happened inside the establishment that would have given us any indication of what transpired in the parking lot after we closed.”
The post continued: “Our paid security team has done a great job with keeping problems to a minimum. The safety of our patrons and staff is our upmost priority. We truly regret what happened and we will continue to pray for all the victims as well as their families and everyone affected by this senseless act. We know the times that we are living in are perilous. Thank you for all your support!”