Rap music contest at club ends with gunfire

CONYERS - Investigators with the Conyers Police Department continued looking for a gunman who they believe fired shots inside a local night club after he was booed on stage during a rap music contest.

No one was reportedly hurt during the incident, which occurred just after midnight Sunday at Decades nightclub at 1211 Royal Drive. Investigators with the CPD found spent shell casings inside the nightclub and in the parking lot outside.

Conyers Police Chief David Cathcart said the club had been rented out for the evening by a group holding a rap contest. One contestant apparently became upset with the response he was receiving from the audience. Words were exchanged and then shots were fired into the air near the front of the stage, Cathcart said.

People inside the club began running out of the building and getting into their cars. Witnesses told police that after the initial gunfire inside, four more shots were fired outside the club.

"Apparently, there was no intention of anybody getting shot, but it was done as much as a scare tactic or retaliation for getting booed," the chief said. "When police arrived, the involved parties had left the scene, so it's something we're continuing to follow up on."

Police recovered one shell casing inside the club and four more in the parking lot. The ceiling of the nightclub suffered significant damage from the shooting, Cathcart said.

Witnesses described the gunman as being 5 feet, 6 inches tall and weighing approximately 220 pounds. The man was seen leaving in a silver Chevrolet Malibu, Cathcart said.

Jay Jones can be reached at jay.jones@rockdalecitizen.com.