Alcohol license removed from Macon bar after 3 killed in shooting, officials say

A Macon bar is temporarily banned from selling alcohol after a fatal shooting there Sunday, Macon-Bibb County officials said Tuesday.

Bibb County Sheriff David Davis and Mayor Lester Miller made a “joint decision” to revoke a temporary alcohol license from Midtown Daiquiri Bar & Grill, according to Chris Floore, chief communications officer of the county. The temporary license was issued March 14, and was set to expire June 14, according to the Bibb County Tax Commissioner’s Office.

Three people were killed and six wounded during the shooting around midnight Sunday morning. Five of the injured victims remained hospitalized and one was released Tuesday, according to the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office.

County commissioners were expected to decide if the bar could get an annual license earlier Tuesday, but Miller said the topic was not up for debate until law enforcement completes its investigation into the shooting.

“There will be no discussion on that, so if anybody’s here to speak on that behalf of being here on any decisions of that, can feel free to leave at any time,” Miller said in the first few minutes of a pre-commission meeting. “It will not be in our four o’clock (pre-commission) meeting or our six o’clock (commission) meeting.”

At that point a group of people related to the business — including Brittany Pool, the bar manager — walked out of the Commission Chamber. Pool and others declined to comment.

The business still had a temporary license around 4 p.m. at the start of the pre-commission meeting.

“That business is operating on a temporary permit right now that would be handled another way and we’ll do an investigation and report back at the perfect time of the final decision,” Miller said at the meeting, before moving on to another topic.

About three hours later, Floore told The Telegraph the temporary license was removed.

The Commission agenda initially included the bar’s license in a list of items up for discussion. But Floore told The Telegraph that changed at the last minute and will be rescheduled.

“It was scheduled to be on the agenda tonight before any of the weekend’s events…,” Floore said. “The mayor will reschedule the review of the (annual) license once the sheriff’s office has completed their investigation into the events from the weekend.”

Commissioner Brendalyn Bailey, who represents District 9 where the shooting happened, did not respond to The Telegraph’s request for comment.

What’s up for debate?

Commissioners are expected to consider whether any criminal actions have taken place at or within 100 feet of any establishment when applying for a 12-month alcohol license, according to the county’s municipal code.

Deaths, severe injuries and use of weapons, as well as the license applicant’s “degree of knowledge, complicity or involvement” with these instances, are also reasons to turn down an alcohol license, Code Sec. 4-57 said.

Another way a license could be rejected is if there is an “unusual commitment of police resources… including frequent police reports, or the dedication of an unusual quantity of public policing resources or effort to maintaining good order and security in the area of a licensed premises,” the statute said.

Davis did not attend the commission meeting. The sheriff’s office declined to comment on whether a suspect was arrested and further details on the shooting.

In an email Monday, Davis said: “As we continue to investigate the circumstances surrounding the horrific events of the overnight hours of Saturday into Sunday morning, I am in consultation with the county attorney to explore every option we have under law to support a recommendation that Midtown Daiquiri Bar & Grill not have an alcohol license going forward.”

Neighbor: Violence is common at the bar

A wooden fence, surveillance cameras and “no trespassing” signs are posted around a house across the street from the bar.

Alex Perkins, who heard and saw the shooting from his house Sunday, said he installed these safety mechanisms after a previous shooting, to protect his family and prevent violence from reaching his yard.

“I want it shut down. I want it padlocked as of today,” Perkins said of the bar, Tuesday afternoon. “It’s a safety hazard for us.”

The 53-year-old was upset and surprised that the bar wasn’t already shut down after multiple instances of violence.

It is unclear how many previous violent incidents have occurred at the bar, but it has had repeated incidents of alcohol license issues, according to the sheriff’s office.

Other neighbors “have to get on the floor all the time” to hide from gunshots, Perkins told The Telegraph.

He reported the shooting to 911 late Saturday night into Sunday morning, when he heard rapid gunfire nearby and saw commotion in the bar’s parking lot.

“I called 911. It took them 10 rings to answer the phone… I said, ‘Get to Midtown (Daiquiri) Bar & Grill. It sounds like an army is over there shooting,” Perkins, a father of four kids, said.

He has lived there for 13 years, but the recent shooting sounded worse than others.

“It sounded like a machine gun, but they call it a switch,” Perkins said. “Once you start shooting, it don’t stop.”

A Glock switch is a tiny mechanism that turns a handgun into an automatic weapon with rapid gunfire. Deputies at the sheriff’s office aren’t allowed to use switches because they are so hard to control, according to Maj. Jason Batchelor, who leads the Criminal Investigations Unit.

“It’s dangerous in the wrong hands and potentially dangerous even in the right hands,” Batchelor told The Telegraph.

Perkins said the bar has been more rowdy since its interior was renovated in March. A Facebook post by Shun Quainter, a business partner of the bar, showed completed renovations on March 22. Quainter did not respond to The Telegraph’s request for comment.

“It was very ironic, since they changed the place, this bar stays open until five o’clock (a.m.),” Perkins said. “I’ve been coming to Macon since I was 15 years old. Everything closes at two o’clock (a.m.), and the last call for alcohol is 1:30 (a.m.), but over there it’s all night long.”

This story may be updated as more information becomes available.

This story was originally published May 21, 2025 at 6:00 AM.