DETROIT – A deadly shooting outside an after‑hours club on Detroit’s west side is renewing calls for the city to crack down on late‑night establishments that operate into the early morning in residential neighborhoods.
City inspectors recently tagged Suite 100 Lounge on Schaefer, days after Detroit businessman and community leader Michael “Mike B” Brown was shot and killed outside the business. Two other people were injured in the gunfire early Saturday morning.
Neighbors say the spot operates as an after‑hours club and has changed in recent years.
“It usually just be old people there. But now, it just got like a younger crowd, and that’s when the bull stuff happens,” said neighbor Tyrone Coleman.
Community organizer Zeek Williams, with New Era Detroit, says residents are fed up with bars and lounges staying open into the early-morning hours, near homes.
“They’re tired of these places being open 3, 4, and 5 o’clock in the morning,” Williams said. “These are residents. We have these corner bars. And we’ve got families that’s raising kids right behind these bars, and they’re going out, they get into altercations and late nights.”
Williams and other neighbors went before Detroit City Council this week, urging members to crack down on after‑hours establishments like Suite 100 and tighten rules around where they can operate and how late they can stay open.
They point to other recent violence tied to late‑night spots, including a chaotic scene outside Chita’s Nefertiti on Grand River back in January. A large brawl spilled into the street, ending with one man stabbed multiple times and another man shot and killed.
“You can’t talk about trying to clean up the city and, you know, you go to any other city outside of Detroit, and they shut down at midnight,” Williams said.
Council Member Angela Whitfield‑Calloway says she supports tougher rules on after‑hours businesses and plans to introduce legislation to limit operating hours.
“That murder happened around 4:30 a.m. Had no business being open. And that’s in a community where people live. It’s not desolated over there,” Whitfield‑Calloway said.
“I’m just going to put that ordinance into motion. We’ll start it, based on this. You’ve inspired it.”
Some neighbors say that’s exactly the kind of action they want to see.
When asked what he would like done, Coleman replied, “Close at like 2 o’clock. Like a normal club.”
Detroit police say the deadly shooting at Suite 100 was one of several violent incidents over a particularly bloody weekend.
“The amount of shootings that the city saw this weekend was just far too much,” said Detroit Police Department spokesperson Jasmin Barmore.
In addition to the killing of Brown outside the after‑hours club, detectives are also investigating a shooting at a repast on Detroit’s east side that left two people dead and two others injured. A deadly shooting at a motorcycle club over the weekend also remains unsolved.
Investigators say they are still working leads in the Suite 100 case and are asking anyone who saw what happened, or who may have cell phone video or other information, to come forward.
“We’re asking anyone with any information, with any of these homicides — the Suite 100, the repast, the motorcycle club — come forward. Speak up. Say something,” Barmore said.
Anyone with information about the Suite 100 shooting or any of the other weekend shootings is urged to contact Detroit Police or call Crime Stoppers at 1‑800‑SPEAK‑UP. Callers can remain anonymous.