NORFOLK, Va. — A representative for the shuttered Norfolk nightclub Legacy Lounge says the owners have new footage showing more details about the night a shooting happened outside the club.
A representative for Legacy, Marcus Calabrese of Image Capital Group says video from that night shows there was marked security at the nightclub, despite the initial comments from city officials that Legacy did not have adequate marked security personnel.
“The video that we’re seeing is from patrons that were there that night," Calabrese said. “Legacy has proven every step along the way, that wasn’t the case. The city’s police report proved that wasn’t the case. In this video, and in pervious videos, you will see uniformed security that even exceeded the standards.”
The shooting happened in August and left four people hurt – including a Norfolk sheriff’s deputy.
Norfolk Police Department investigators say the suspected shooter was kicked out of the nightclub. Calabrese says video also shows security appropriately responding to the situation.
“It was not a lack of integrity," Calabrese said. "We had a patron who got out of order, we had a staff member restrain him and we had that staff member stand him up and address him and let him know – you have to leave. You can never come back.”
Norfolk city council leaders shut the business down in September amid heightened concerns over safety on Granby Street. City leaders pointed to issues with safety and security.
Norfolk’s Assistant City Attorney had said: "It's that business operation, that lack of integrity, professionalism while executing their duties and responsibilities that failed to maintain security, protection, and safety for members of the public.”
Calabrese said Legacy’s owners want to sit down with city officials about a path forward.
“Legacy is hopeful there can be an open dialogue and they can be part of that," Calabrese said. "Legacy would like to resume business and bring [back] the unemployed staff members that they had to terminate – it was a lot of students, a lot of mothers.”
Calabrese said there is also new surveillance video showing the outside of Legacy Lounge when the shooting happened.
“We can’t release it to the public and neither will the city, out of respect for the judge’s orders," Calabrese said. "However, we do want to shed more light on what actually happened.”
After a Norfolk court denied Legacy’s request for an injunction, attorneys for Legacy Lounge filed an appeal to the Virginia Supreme Court to try to reopen the nightclub but Calabrese said the court decided not to hear the case
Calabrese also pointed to Legacy’s Zoning Certificate issued on July 11 and said Legacy’s owners did everything right and never violated their permits.
We reached out to Norfolk city leaders about this but haven’t heard back.
Legacy is just one of several downtown Norfolk businesses to lose their permits. Culture Lounge and Restaurant, Scotty Quixx, and California Burrito also had their conditional use permits taken away by council members.