CHARLOTTE — The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department has identified a man arrested for allegedly firing a gun inside an uptown Charlotte comedy club Saturday night.
Police said Omar James McCombs, 36, was charged with nine counts in connection to the incident.
No one was hurt Saturday, but the situation canceled the show at The Comedy Zone in the AvidXchange Music Factory, where comedian Craig Robinson was supposed to perform.
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Employees told Channel 9 reporter Tina Terry that a man came inside the club while waving a gun around and demanded that everyone leave the building. Employees said it happened around 9:10 p.m.
About 50 customers were inside and dozens more were outside. Employees said they started running out of the door. CMPD confirmed after everyone was evacuated, McCombs allegedly fired that gun inside.
Officers said when they arrived they found several victims who said McCombs pointed a gun at them and threatened to hurt them.
Officers were able to quickly detain McCombs and take him to CMPD headquarters.
McCombs was charged with five counts of assault by pointing a gun, one count of discharging a firearm within an enclosure to incite fear and one count of possession of a firearm by a felon, among other charges. His bonds total $90,000, according to Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office arrest records.
‘A lot of chaos’
In the meantime, many people who were there Saturday were just grateful no one was hurt.
“I heard there were people running out, even some of our coworkers couldn’t get in. They were confused,” Serenity Sanders said. “A lot of chaos. I’m glad it wasn’t bad, people could still come out to the factory and enjoy their time out.”
It all happened about 30 minutes before a sold out show with Robinson. Police said that show was canceled.
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On Saturday night, Robinson spoke for the first time in an Instagram Live he recorded after the scary situation.
“There’s an active shooter at the club I was at, so we had to run over here to this concert,” he said. Then later, “It was just wild, I was in the green room, they were like ‘everybody get out.’ It was wild for sure.”
Robinson later shared a statement on his Instagram.
“Thank you to the Comedy Zone security and staff for getting us to safety quickly. Thank you everyone for your outpouring of support and well wishes. Thank you CMPD for swift action in apprehending the shooter. Hopefully he gets the help he needs. Thanks be to God no one was hurt. Please stay safe everyone.”
Chief Johnny Jennings echoed that sentiment saying he was proud and thankful for all the CMPD staff involved in de-escalating the incident.
The Comedy Zone canceled Sunday night’s show to take a “short breather” after the incident.
Anyone who purchased tickets for Saturday or Sunday night’s show will have their tickets refunded.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
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