Man wounded in hookah bar shooting in Sterling Heights

STERLIGN HEIGHTS, Mich. (WJBK) - A party at the Empire Hookah Lounge quickly went from overcrowded to out of control just after midnight Friday morning.

A 22-year-old man was shot in the stomach and leg in the incident and no one is in custody.

Mark Atty says more people showed up causing trouble at the bar, on Van Dyke near 15 Mile.

"They all started fighting," he said. "About ten seconds later I heard gun shot after gunshot.  Everybody was having a good time, there was a DJ in there, everybody was dancing, smoking hookah.

He said that a group of men were kept from entering due to the bar being at capacity. The trouble began shortly after.

"There was a group of about seven guys that came to the door, they were trying to get in," he said. "The owner walked up to them and told them that the house was too full. One of them got really mad.  And then somebody from inside came outside and started arguing with him.

A group of guys from inside the bar met those outside, and a gun was pulled and the victim shot.

So far police are still searching for surveillance video and have none to release at this time. There is still no description of the suspect.

Police are still in the process of tracking down witnesses and conducting interviews.

"It was pretty bad, there were probably about 20 guys out here fighting," said Atty. "It kind of started right here and escalated off into the parking lot."

It was not something this Empire Hookah regular is used to seeing around here.

"I just ran inside, went straight to the bathroom and didn't come out for 25 minutes until the cops got here," he said.