SPRINGFIELD — Mayor Domenic J. Sarno on Monday questioned security procedures and ordered entertainment and liquor license hearings after a man was found shot and killed Sunday at the Saga Lounge, a night club on the corner of lower Worthington Street and East Columbus Avenue.
“My sympathy, thoughts, prayers and encouragement go out to the victim’s family and friends,” Sarno said in a news release. “More senseless gun violence and the loss of a life. If establishments are not going to operate properly, I/We will move to shut them down in the name of the public’s health and safety. The owner of Saga Lounge has agreed to turn in his license while our investigation proceeds. I remain hopeful that our Springfield Police Department will hunt down the culprit(s) and bring them to justice and that our court system will hold them and keep them off our streets and out of our neighborhoods.”
Authorities have not publicly identified the shooting victim, but friends and family confirmed it was David Carrasquillo, a Springfield rapper also known as Bossdawn. His father, Roberto Carrasquillo, wrote on Facebook that he was brokenhearted from the loss of his son. “I am (a) wreck right now full with anger, sadness, and tears right now,” he wrote. “Emotionally I am destroyed.”
An Amherst venue announced Monday that his tightened security following Sunday’s shooting at Saga.
Police said they responded to the nightclub about 10:40 p.m. Sunday for a report of shots fired. Officers found a gunshot victim in a bathroom inside Saga who died on scene, police spokesman Ryan Walsh wrote Monday in a statement.
Saga Lounge is licensed to Gandolfia Associates, according to state records. The Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission lists no current discipline against the operator. The business manager is Paul Ramesh, according to documents filed in March with the state secretary of state’s office.
Sarno has for years bee aggressive in pulling licensees from bars and clubs after violence.
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