Dec. 29--EAST ST. LOUIS -- A security guard working at the Broadway East nightclub on Broadway in East St. Louis was shot in the leg early Sunday morning.
According to police, the security guard was a private duty guard hired by the club. He was not armed.
Police Chief Michael Baxton said an officer was patrolling the area about 4:45 a.m. when he noticed an altercation in progress at the club.
"A few seconds later, he heard gunshots and saw a red Lincoln Navigator leaving the parking lot at a high rate of speed," said Baxton. "The officer pursued the car briefly."
Baxton said the driver drove onto the Eads Bridge and into St. Louis. The officer terminated the pursuit on the bridge and notified the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department that the vehicle was traveling into the city at a high rate of speed.
The officer returned to the club where he found the security guard who had been shot in the leg, Baxton said.
The security guard was taken to a hospital for treatment for the bullet wound, which was not considered to be life-threatening.
The guard was shot by a man he was escorting out of the club, which formerly was called the Monastery.
Baxton said police were conducting interviews with potential witnesses and reviewing surveillance tape at the club to try to identify the gunman.
The shooting is the second in recent days at nightclubs in East St. Louis.
A patron was shot inside Blackmon's VIP Lounge at 127 Collinsville Ave. on Friday. The shooter in that incident has not been apprehended. Between 300 and 400 people were inside of the business at the time of the shooting. No one else was injured.
"We're going to be aggressively monitoring these nightclubs," Baxton said. "It is our duty to make sure that the city is as safe as possible for patrons and visitors, and that is what we're working to do."
Mayor Alvin Parks Jr. has ordered the club closed for seven days. He also said a hearing with the club owner, J. C. Blackmon, will follow a police investigation.
