California hookah lounge where 9 were shot had no business permit, police say

A San Bernardino hookah lounge that was the scene of a deadly gun battle late Friday night lacked a permit to operate as a business, police said Sunday.

Police investigators continued to search for the people who fired at each other inside the lounge and the parking lot outside, leaving nine shot, including one man who died.

Flyers and social media announcements about the party helped to draw a large crowd to Tha Blu Flame, said Sgt. Equino Thomas, a spokesman for the San Bernardino police. There were at least 100 people there when officers arrived, he said.

“It was a some kind of a party advertised on social media,” Thomas said. “What the nature of that party was, I don’t know.”

He said those who remained in the parking lot were “unruly,” and weren’t cooperating when officers ordered them to clear the scene.

When the shooting broke out at the lounge at 3606 Highland Avenue on the east side of the city, partygoers scrambled to get out of the way. The shooting continued outside, and police tape was later seen put up around a nearby gas station as officers investigated.

Allen Grisham, Jr., 20, of San Bernardino, was killed. The other people hit did not have life-threatening injuries, police said. None of the victims appeared to have been targets, but were simply caught in the crossfire.

San Bernardino Police Chief David Green said Saturday that investigators would be working “to shut down the business whose illegal activities led to the shooting,” but did not elaborate on what that meant.