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Greensboro leaders outline next steps after bar shooting

City leaders aim to gain more control over establishments they classify as a nuisance.

GREENSBORO, N.C. — Shell casings littered the ground outside Electric Tequila early Saturday morning.

It's a miracle only two people were hurt. 

Law enforcement is familiar with this bar on Battleground Avenue. The city says officers have received 46 911 calls since March of this year. 

Mayor Nancy Vaughan brought it up at Monday's city council meeting, calling the business a nuisance.

"Do we really have to wait for somebody to get shot or killed? Because that is what the level is for a nuisance... And it's not that it's loud music, it's that it's dangerous and this is one of a number of dangerous locations that we have throughout our city," Vaughan said.

RELATED: Shots fired outside of a Greensboro nightclub over the weekend

Making matters worse, the mayor said Electric Tequila opened back up the next day, on Sunday. It was at double its capacity and got a code violation for it. She shared her frustrations over this saying the city should have more control, other members of the council agree, like District 3 Council Member, Zack Matheny.

"That's something we should be able to have more control over. So, I back the mayor up on working with the DA, working with whoever we need to work with - the state, law enforcement, that if we have problem places we should be able to have more teeth and we can control that, versus things that we really can't," Matheny said.

RELATED: Video: Dozens of shots fired outside Greensboro club as people run and duck for cover

Mayor Vaughan said this shooting could and should make things more difficult for entertainment related businesses, like bars, to open in Greensboro.

'We have talked about an entertainment ordinance and you know there's always a big hubbub about how we're making it hard to do business well, maybe some businesses it should be hard to do business because they're not doing it right," Vaughan said.

The city of Greensboro filed a civil nuisance abatement lawsuit which could require Electric Tequila to close.

A note posted on the business's door today said the landlord had taken possession of the building. In a statement to us today, the owner wrote "at this time no one can enter the premises unless accompanied by the owner."

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