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Four wounded in incident at Steubenville’s Club 106

STEUBENVILLE — Four people were wounded when gunfire erupted inside Club 106, the controversial nightspot at the corner of Sixth and South streets in downtown Steubenville, early Tuesday morning.

No arrests have been made, but police continue to investigate.

“There’s video — a lot of people had guns,” Police Chief Bill McCafferty said. “It was utter chaos inside that club.”

The wounded were identified as:

∫ Darnell Ellis, 24, of 519 Grandview Ave., Steubenville.

∫ Damarcus Montorel, 25, of 439 Dresden Ave., Steubenville.

∫ Shaquille Wilson, 28, of Pittsburgh.

∫ Cinquan Dunn, 19, of Chicago.

Wilson, who was wounded in the neck, was flown to a Pittsburgh hospital for treatment. Ellis and Montorel suffered leg wounds and were transported to area hospitals.

City Manager Jim Mavromatis said detectives “are reviewing the video, that’s where we’re at.”

“None of them are cooperating, that’s a problem,” he said. “So (police) are watching hours of video to try and piece the puzzle together, then they’ll get with the prosecutor to decide whether to file charges.”

He said some of the shooting spilled onto the sidewalk in front of the club.

“If they don’t want to talk, we can’t make them,” Mavromatis reiterated, adding they have to be concerned that someone will attempt retaliation.

City officials have tried at least six times during the past decade to shut the club down, citing numerous instances of violent crimes that included shootings, felonious assaults, assaults, aggravated riot, inciting to violence, disorderly conduct and criminal mischief.

Most recently, it was declared a public nuisance by Municipal Court and Jefferson County Common Pleas Court and ordered to close in 2017. A year later, shortly after it reopened, a 19-year-old city resident, Daniel Bittinger, died in a shootout inside the bar. The other gunman, Tyrelle Gilbert, a convicted felon, was sentenced to four years in prison for reckless homicide.

And, in 2015, D’Andre Johnson was sentenced to eight years behind bars on charges of felonious assault with a firearm and discharging a firearm over a roadway after he walked into the club in the early morning hours and was thrown out. Witnesses had said Johnson pulled out a gun and stuck it in the stomach of a security guard, then began firing as he was chased out of the club by another guard.

Mavromatis said it’s too soon to say whether they’ll take steps to declare the club a nuisance after this latest shooting spree.

“We’re going to look at everything, but we’ll wait until we get the reports back.

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