Atlanta’s ‘nightlife division’ holds safety training seminar for club owners

ATLANTA - Just hours after a shooting outside an Atlanta nightclub Saturday, the city kicked off a new safety training program to help prevent gun violence at bars and nightclubs.

"Today is training day," said Mayor Andre Dickens at the first-of-its-kind event on Saturday. "We want to hear from the operators of lounges, clubs, bars, restaurants, but also make sure that we set standards in place that we will operate safely."

The latest bar shooting was just a few hours prior, early Saturday morning in Buckhead outside a string of bars on Peachtree Road. 

Police say a woman who was hit was an innocent bystander just walking down the street, caught the gunfire that was the result of an argument. Doctors expect her to survive, authorities confirmed.

It’s not clear if police have arrested anyone.

"Nightlife is so vital to and important to Atlanta’s economy and the things that people like to do when they visit the city as well as those who live here in Atlanta so we want to make sure we get it right," Dickens told FOX 5.

At the training days, which the city plans on holding quarterly, some of the topics instructors spoke about included active shooter response and de-escalation tactics, along with C.P.R. and first aid.

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"This is something that is long overdoing the city," said Phillana Williams, who works with the mayor’s office of film and entertainment. "Nightlife has long been a part of this city."

The mayor says managers from some of the fifteen establishments that have distinct issues with gun violence were there.

"Everybody needs to know what the safety protocols are," Dickens said. "How do they miss dismiss individuals, how do they prevent folks from overindulging in alcoholic beverages and just being thoughtful from the server to the bartender all the way to the bouncer."