Police said the shooter reportedly left the club at 806 E. French Ave. with a gun.
“Officers are currently following leads about the suspect,” Sgt. Brad Hunt of the Temple Police Department said.
The shooting took place about 12:45 a.m. in a common area of the club in view of several witnesses, according to police.
Witnesses said two men had a dispute and one pulled a gun and started firing shots. At least one shot struck Finley in the head, the release said.
This is not the first time there has been trouble at the club.
In March 2008, Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission canceled the club’s permit to sell alcohol after it was charged with being a public safety hazard. Temple police requested action against the club following a large altercation in its parking lot in September 2007.
After its license was pulled, the club continued to operate by allowing patrons to bring their own alcohol to the establishment.
The number of calls Temple Police Department received out to the club were comparable to what the department receives from other clubs in Temple, although there have been some “extreme situations” at JR’s, Hunt said Monday.
In September 2007, suspected drug dealers from Temple and Dallas escalated the situation until the club began to consume almost all of Temple police manpower each Friday and Saturday night at closing time, according to an affidavit filed with the alcoholic beverage commission.
Before the license cancellation, Temple Police Chief Gary Smith spoke about JR’s.
“We’ve been having problems for several months, but this is the worst we’ve had,” Smith said after the near riot. “There’s an enormous problem there.”
Such issues put not only the officers at risk, but also the city and its residents, he said.
“The level of concern is extreme,” Smith said.
In 2004, there were 32 calls for service, a total that climbed every year until at least September 2007 when 119 calls for service were recorded.
The chaos prevalent regularly at closing time seemed to reach a crescendo around 2:10 a.m. on Sep. 2, 2007.
Hunt, Temple’s watch commander that night, reported a crowd of at least 250 people acting aggressively to each other and police. By the time Hunt arrived on the scene, police received a call about shots being fired and a man was motionless on the ground, surrounded by a large group of men.
The crowd blocked paramedics and police from accessing the injured man, who was knocked out, and refused police requests to disperse. Officers finally formed a protective circle around the downed man after deploying a K-9 unit and using pepper spray, but even then the crowd was aggressive, according to the report.
Hunt reported the situation came under control only after a pepper ball gun was used and after law enforcement agencies from “the entire eastern half of Bell County” arrived to assist.
It took until 3:30 a.m. for the officers to disperse the crowd, which initially gathered at other locations inside Temple, according to the report.
GARRETT STEVEN TURNER contributed to this report.
