By: Robin Goist 

CLEVELAND, Ohio – Cleveland police are investigating a shooting early Saturday morning near a downtown nightclub that left one woman dead and seven men injured.

Officers were called to Club X-Rated at Lakeside Avenue East and East 33rd Street at about 1:15 a.m., police say.

An altercation inside and outside of the club resulted in eight people being shot, including a 29-year-old woman who was shot in the head.

The woman was taken to MetroHealth, where she died. She was identified as Theresa Goldwin of Cleveland, according to the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner.

The other gunshot victims, all men, were also taken to MetroHealth or University Hospitals with injuries ranging serious to critical.

Police have not confirmed if any arrests have been made in connection to the shooting. They are looking at a number of “unknown black males” as potential suspects.

More details will be released as they become available.

This is the summer’s second shooting near Club X-Rated. Two 25-year-old men were shot outside the club in June in an apparent drive-by.

This weekend’s shooting took place during an unofficial after-party for the Z-107.9 Summer Jam concert at the Wolstein Center.

During the event, a fight broke out between attendees and one or multiple people pulled out a gun and opened fire, police say. The fight moved outside and more shots were fired.

“This is a really unfortunate situation,” said Cleveland City Councilman Basheer Jones, whose ward encompasses Club X. “People go out to have a good time and don’t expect for it to be their last night on earth.” 

Jones said he and his team are going to look at “what’s going on with these nightclubs,” particularly in Ward 7.

“We have a few of them, and a few that are looking to open up, and it’s something that I’m going to be opposing,” he said. “It’s been causing too many issues, and now we find another situation where someone has lost their life as a result of this environment.”

Club X-Rated owner Timothy Spencer confirmed that his club was hosting a Summer Jam after-party Friday evening. There were about 200 people in the club, which has a maximum occupancy of 700, he said.

“All the way up until about 1:15 (a.m.), it was okay,” Spencer said. “Everybody was getting along fine.”

Then Spencer, who was behind the bar, saw people running around the front of the club so he signaled for the DJ to turn the music off. “That’s when I heard gunfire outside,” Spencer said.

“I turned the lights on, I go in the back, and there’s someone that had been hit with a bullet. So I immediately called for assistance,” he said. Spencer emphasized that he was the one who called 911 and has fully cooperated with police and their investigation.

Spencer agrees with Councilman Jones about the issue of violence at nightclubs – even those with adequate security. “It’s obvious it doesn’t matter – guards, check IDs. Everything was set up perfect for the night. But if people have their minds set on killing each other… it seems like something that you can’t prepare for.”

Regarding Theresa Goldwin, the 29-year-old woman who was shot and killed, Spencer said, “She was just an innocent customer. She didn’t deserve that, not for just going out to have a good time.”

The other gunshot victims are all men ranging in age from 19 to 53 years old. They were treated at local hospitals for wounds on parts of their bodies such as hand, thigh, buttocks, foot, calf and knee. A 25-year-old man remained at University Hospitals on Saturday afternoon for injuries in his chest, arm and hand.

Police are still investigating and ask anyone with information to call 216-623-5464.

© 2018 Advance Local Media LLC. All rights reserved (About Us).
The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local.