KSHB 41 reporter Lily O’Shea Becker covers Franklin and Douglas counties in Kansas. Share your story idea with Lily.
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Because both the victims and the defendants in the Lawrence college bar shooting in January were under the age of 21, KSHB 41 News submitted a records request to Kansas Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) to get a better understanding of the bar's history of violations.
Based on the records KSHB 41 News obtained, the state agency filed 60 violation counts against The Hawk for minors consuming alcohol at the bar between 2010 and 2019. At least 42 of the violations were dismissed.
According to court testimony, witnesses under the age of 21 said they were drinking at The Hawk before gunfire broke out on Jan. 17. It's unknown whether the defendants were drinking.
Aiden Sullivan, 18, was killed and Brady Clark, who was 16 at the time, was critically injured.
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Caiden Clem, 18, faces four counts of aggravated assault and one count of criminal possession of a weapon by a felon. Daitron Daniels-Strickland, 18, is charged with first-degree murder, two counts of attempted first-degree murder, and criminal possession of a weapon and battery.
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Based on court documents, Clem and Daniels-Strickland sneaked into The Hawk through an unstaffed side entrance around 11 p.m. on Jan. 16.
Doug Taylor, a Kansas liquor law and licensure attorney for Joseph, Hollander & Craft, said Kansas law does not create specific security for requirements for bars.
“It's just kind of the threshold requirement of you can’t sell to minors, so from there it’s kind of up to them to make sure they comply with that requirement," he said.
Taylor explained one of the defenses The Hawk has used to get some of the violations dismissed.
“It’s a defense if the defendant can show that in order to get the alcohol, the minor presented an identification, the wording of the statute is ‘that reasonably appeared to contain a photograph of them,'" Taylor said.
Taylor says the Kansas statute is open-ended and allows bars an argument for defense if they can prove a person under the age of 21 presented a fake identification with their photo.
“In the best case scenarios that I’ve seen, they (bars) have some type of scanning technology at the door that will capture photographs of the ID itself," he said.
For the violations that weren't dismissed, the drinking establishment licensee for The Hawk paid fine amounts equaling up to $11,250, according to the records KSHB 41 News obtained. The bar also served a 14-day suspension in 2014.
KSHB 41 Douglas County reporter Lily O'Shea Becker emailed, called and knocked on the front door of The Hawk Wednesday to ask whether new security measures have been put in place since the shooting. An employee said the owner was not at the bar to provide a comment.
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