911 calls from Old Landmark Tavern shooting show chaotic scene on Far South Side

Seven different 911 calls made the night two men were fatally shot at the Old Landmark Tavern on Columbus' Far South Side reveal a harrowing and chaotic scene both inside and outside the small bar, as people called for help and family members tried to track down their loved ones.

The calls also provide clues as to who may be involved in Monday night's shooting in the 100 block of Rumsey Road, which also left three other men injured.

"Hurry up! They're shooting! They're shooting! They're shooting!," a bar employee shouted to a dispatcher in one of the calls.

"Who's they?" the dispatcher asked.

"The Avengers. The Avengers bike club. They're on their motorcycles," the employee said.

Another person who called 911 told a dispatcher he'd been shot in the neck, and laid the blame for the shooting on "bikers," whom he later called "the Avengers."

"I'm going to die, hurry," he said. "Nobody is safe, please."

Police search motorcycle club's headquarters

Robert Shepherd, lead detective on the case for the Columbus Division of Police, told the Dispatch that police obtained and executed a search warrant Tuesday afternoon at what he referred to as the Avengers' "clubhouse."

He declined to share the exact location of the building but said it's in the Franklinton area of Columbus.

"We do know that they were involved. We don't know if they were responsible. That's what were trying to figure out," Shepherd said.

Shepherd also said Wednesday morning that he and other detectives hadn't yet had a chance to review surveillance video from the shooting.

"I'm hoping here in the next couple days I have a little bit more understanding and grasp on exactly what occurred and who was directly involved," Shepherd said. "There's a lot of theories being thrown around. They all make sense, but we're not going to run with one particular theory at this point and time."

Police say altercation preceded shooting

Shortly after police arrived at the Old Landmark Tavern after receiving the first 911 call at 9:41 p.m., they found Glenn Clark III, 50, suffering from a gunshot wound. He was pronounced dead at the scene at 9:45 p.m.

The other four men who had been shot were taken to OhioHealth Grant Medical Center, about five miles north of the bar. It was there that Nicholas Dowler, 34, succumbed to his injuries. He was pronounced dead at 10:32 p.m.

The three surviving victims are ages 38, 53 and 65.

Police say all five men were patronizing the bar when an altercation began. The disturbance then escalated into an "exchange of gunfire," a police report reads.

When the Dispatch went to the Old Landmark Tavern Monday night after the shooting, a number of motorcycles lined the front. Local residents described the bar as a neighborhood gathering place and said nothing like this had ever happened there.

'People are getting shot out there'

Inside the bar on Monday night, the bar employee who called 911 can be heard on the recording of the call urging others to get keys to lock the doors. The employee pleaded with the dispatcher to send police.

"People are getting shot out there," the employee said. "I'm just scared to death, and I want to get out of here."

Monroe Trombly covers breaking and trending news.

mtrombly@dispatch.com

@MonroeTrombly

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: 911 calls from Old Landmark Tavern shooting reveal chaotic scene