LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A Louisville restaurant will "voluntarily relinquish" its extended liquor license after a fatal shooting last weekend.

Metro Councilman Ben Reno-Weber, D-8, said Cafe 360 "has taken proactive measures to enhance the safety and wellbeing of its Highlands location."

The restaurant will relinquish its extended 2-4 a.m. liquor license for a six-month period in an effort to mitigate future violent incidences. It will also hire private security on Fridays through Sundays from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m., according to Reno-Weber.

The shooting happened Sunday, March 3, around 3:30 a.m. at the business on Bardstown Road in the Highlands. Louisville Metro Police said a man, later identified as Theodore Brown, 21, was found inside and pronounced dead at the scene from a gunshot wound. LMPD's Homicide Unit is investigating, but has no suspects and has made no arrests. Investigators believe there are witnesses to the shooting and are asking them to step forward.

Louisville's Alcoholic Beverage Control asked for an emergency suspension of Cafe 360's liquor license on Monday "following a series of incidents in and around" the business, Reno-Weber said Thursday. Under current Kentucky law, "emergency suspensions require approval from the Kentucky Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control," something Reno-Weber said he and Councilman Rick Blackwell, D-12, are "working to address through Metro Council."

"It is important that we have the right tools locally to respond quickly when we see a pattern of behavior that is concerning," Reno-Weber said in a news release. "But it (is) always better when we are able to work with business owners who want to be good neighbors."

In response to the shooting at Cafe 360, and a deadly shooting outside of downtown's Southern Restaurant and Lounge on the bar's final night last August, city leaders are making a push for more local control over liquor licenses when there is a violent incident at a business. 

Wednesday, Metro Council's Public Safety Committee unanimously passed an ordinance that would give ABC the authority to suspend a liquor license immediately after a shooting at a business. 

"In these circumstances, the power of prevention is paramount," Louisville ABC Administrator Brad Silvera said in a news release Thursday. "Granting local authorities the necessary tools, such as emergency suspension power, is essential for enabling swift action to ensure public safety."

Under the new ordinance, a business owner where a violent act happened would get an ABC hearing within three business days. Blackwell said there is room for discretion in the ordinance, but the intent is to look at threats to public safety and protect customers.

"The administration’s not looking for a way to shut bars or the entertainment industry," he said Wednesday. "But those folks need to be able to go places and feel safe."

The ordinance would only apply to Metro ABC, and not cities within Jefferson County who have their own agency.

Anyone who may have information about the Cafe 360 shooting, or witnessed it, is urged to call LMPD's anonymous crime tip line at (502) 574-LMPD (5673) or use the anonymous crime tip portal by clicking here. 

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