KSHB 41 reporter Fernanda Silva covers stories in the Northland. She also focuses on issues surrounding immigration. Share your story idea with Fernanda.
—
Lawrence police are still investigating a deadly shooting that happened outside Jayhawk Cafe, known as The Hawk, in the early hours of Saturday morning, with all individuals involved being under 21 years old.
“We don’t know exactly why it happened,” said Rich Lockhart, police chief in Lawrence. “There are a lot of conflicting reports about what led up to it and why it happened. We’re still following up on some of those leads to get that nailed down.”
Police have confirmed that all of the people involved in the shooting — both suspects and victims — are under the age of 21. According to the department, each of them had been inside the bar at some point that night.
Lockhart said he does not yet know whether any of the individuals were intoxicated.
The two 18-year-olds facing charges related to the deadly weekend shooting at The Hawk returned to court Wednesday.
“My thoughts are what my mom and dad told me: after midnight, nothing good is going to happen when you’re underage,” Lockhart said. “Obviously, if these kids had been at home, this wouldn’t have happened.”
University of Kansas students interviewed this week say it’s not uncommon to see people under 21 at The Hawk.
“It’s a place that I think freshmen or sophomores — people underage — can try to get into without fear of being rejected or losing their friend’s ID, or however they’re getting in,” said aerospace engineering senior Vincent Nowicki.
“I sometimes sit out here and see people going to The Hawk. Some of them tend to be younger,” said visual art junior Jesse Gutierrez, who lives a couple of houses away from the bar.
Others say employees at The Hawk are doing what they are supposed to do.
“I don’t necessarily blame anybody at The Hawk for what happened. They were still doing their jobs — checking IDs and doing those things,” said finance senior Daly Steinhauser.
“I’ve always had my ID checked whenever I go into any of the bars around here,” said Asher Denk, also a finance senior.
On Tuesday, The Hawk sent a statement via Instagram, saying “the safety of guests and staff is their top priority.” Follow-up questions about underage access and ID verification went unanswered.
Lawrence’s Police Chief emphasized that enforcement is led by the Kansas Alcoholic Beverage Control.
“We don’t license bars, so as the Lawrence Police Department, we wouldn’t be the ones to take action against their license,” Lockhart said. “Here, we don’t have that same authority.”
He said the department can take action against people who are underage and drinking inside the bar, but they “would have to work through the Alcoholic Beverage Control agency to pursue other actions against bartenders or business owners.”
KSHB 41 News has submitted records requests to the Kansas Alcoholic Beverage Control to learn about enforcement actions, violations, citations, warnings, or disciplinary measures taken against The Hawk, but has not yet received a response.
The Lawrence Police Department says many of the shots were fired into the air around closing time.
“They’re asking everybody to leave, and those times can sometimes be chaotic,” Lockhart said.
—
