Dr. Rock gets second chance
Published 12:00 am Thursday, January 6, 2005
Union nightclub Dr. Rock’s will reopen following a fatal New Years morning shooting. The club had been closed since the shooting by Greene County Sheriff Johnny Isaac until he was able to meet with club owner Howard Crawford.
Isaac said he met with Crawford earlier in the week and planned to talk more Wednesday about the terms of the clubs reopening.
“I met with the owner the other day and I am going to talk to him some more today about it,” Isaac said. “I am going to let them open up until further notice and we will go from there.”
Isaac said he told Crawford he was not pleased with many things going on at the club. Isaac said he expects to see the problems taken care of.
“I let him know some of the things I was dissatisfied with about the place,” Isaac said. “We are going to work on that.”
Dr. Rocks has been under close scrutiny through most of its 11 years of existence and didn’t take long to get negative talk circulating in 2005.
Only minutes into the New Year an altercation inside the bar led to fatal shots in the parking lot.
Tyrone Lewis, 31, of Eutaw, died at a nearby hospital after being shot in the back by a single gunshot. The shooting was a result of an argument that began over a game of pool and escalated as they left the club.
Witnesses say Lewis was trying to avoid an argument and was attempting to enter his vehicle when John Cockrell, 21, fired a shot into his back. Cockrell turned himself in to authorities around 11 a.m. Saturday and was charged with murder. He remains in Greene County Jail.
Currently, the shooting is still under investigation.
After the shooting the club was closed until Isaac could meet with Crawford and decide what action should be taken.
In a Monday interview Isaac expressed his concern with the many complaints from the club. He said many incidents have occurred at the club, usually around or after closing time.
For now, the club will open, but further incidents could mean severe action.