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Brandt Williams
St. Paul, Minn.

Official: Mpls. club where 9 shot unlikely to reopen

Soundbar night club in the North Loop
The 400 Soundbar in Minneapolis was the scene of a shooting over the weekend that injured nine.
Tim Nelson/MPR News

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A Minneapolis bar with a troubled history is expected to shut down permanently.

The owner of 400 Soundbar has decided to close the club after nine bar-goers were injured in a weekend shooting, Minneapolis City licensing manager Grant Wilson said Tuesday.

Club owner Johann Sfaellos did not return calls for comment. Wilson, though, said Sfaellos told him during a meeting on Monday that it's unlikely 400 Soundbar will reopen.

The nightclub, located a block from Target Field, has a history of violent incidents. Since 2012, two people have been stabbed at the club, two officers have reported being assaulted while breaking up fights, and a bouncer was shot and seriously wounded outside the club, according to documents released by the city.

A witness told police the man convicted of shooting the bouncer, James David Wren, 30, was a frequent patron of the club. Wren was sentenced to nearly nine years in prison for 1st degree assault.

The city had placed conditions on the club's license, including patron screening and the use of off-duty police officers, to improve security.

Police say no arrests have been made in the early Saturday morning shooting, which left two people seriously wounded and a Minnesota Vikings football player with a minor gunshot wound.

"Most of the instances that occurred outside were directly outside of the doors as people spilled out onto the front of their club," said Wilson. "So yes, we recognize that they are directly related to the operation of that business."

Several other bars and nightclubs have either closed or transformed in the wake of similar violent histories.

The city revoked the liquor license for Champions bar on Lake Street this year following a fatal shooting which occurred inside the establishment in August 2013, Wilson said.

In 2012, the owners of Envy nightclub downtown agreed to give up their liquor license following violent incidents linked to club patrons.

The owners of Karma, another troubled nightspot, decided to ditch the club's liquor license and turn it into an arcade, Wilson added.