A rural Lexington County bar and grill where a man was recently shot and killed has seen at least seven responses by law enforcement since 2022, including another shooting, a report of a car left riddled with bullet holes, and more.
As of this month, the small town where it’s located has shut it down, though the owners say they were closing already.
Amici Tavern at 1041 Savannah Highway in Swansea, which sits along U.S. 321 less than a mile south from the heart of the hamlet of about 750, was the site of a shooting a little after 3 a.m. April 28 that left Rodney McKensey James Jr., a 23-year-old from nearby Wagener, dead. The Lexington County Sheriff’s Department detailed that a parking lot argument between two men ended with the other shooting James.
No arrest has been announced in connection with that incident, which is being investigated as a murder.
“More than what I respond to other places in town,” Swansea Police Chief Earl Williams III said of how the number of calls at Amici Tavern compares. “We respond there often after parties.”
Swansea Mayor Viola McDaniel said that in light of the recent shooting and the pattern of incidents at the bar, and at the urging of Chief Williams, the town moved to not renew Amici Tavern’s business license when it came up for renewal at the end of April, posting notices at the location that it is no longer permitted to operate.
“The incident at the tavern was unfortunate,” McDaniel said of the recent fatal shooting. “The town is saddened by the incident that took the life of the young man, and we give our soul sympathy to the family, and they’re in our thoughts.”
Amici Tavern co-owner Wesley Randolph said the bar was already moving to close due to escalating liquor liability costs, an issue many bar owners in the state have said is impacting their businesses . As a small bar in an area with limited population, they can’t afford the $20,000 rate that was in front of them, he said.
As to the incidents at the bar, Randolph said there have been three directly related to patrons of the bar since it opened in 2018, and all of those, including the recent fatal shooting, happened outside after the bar had closed for the night. He added that the police chief and Town Council have been unprofessional in their dealings with the tavern, which included multiple previous interventions with no follow-ups from the town.
“The mayor and the police chief, before they actually came into office, the ones that are currently there, we never had any kind of problem,” Randolph said.
Amici Tavern was the site of another shooting six months ago on Oct. 28, 2023, the night of a Halloween party, with Swansea police reporting that Arthur James Hodge Jr. is accused of shooting a club bouncer after a verbal argument turned physical. An incident report detailed that an unoccupied vehicle was found with the passenger-side windows apparently shot out when officers arrived.
Other gun-related calls occurred at the bar in June 2022 and July 2023.
On June 18, 2022, a woman contacted Swansea police after she was out at the bar late the previous night.
“When she exited the location to go home she noticed a crack in the windshield of her vehicle,” an incident report states. “Believing it to be from a rock striking it in transit, (the complainant) returned home. The next day she noticed the vehicle had several bullet holes in it to include the one in the windshield.”
“She had no issues during her time at the bar but stated that it was a fight that occurred that was pulled outside,” the report continues. “(She) said she never went outside and did not hear any gunshots.”
On July 29, 2023, Swansea police received “multiple calls about a group of people wearing Black Lives matter shirts standing by the road in front of the business armed with guns and spitting at passing cars,” another incident report details.
The report goes on to state that an officer arrived to find “a large party going on at this business with approximately 200-250 people standing outside of the business in the parking lot. Upon me arriving on scene they returned into the business. Multiple people were getting in cars and leaving the scene.”
The report states that the owner said he didn’t see anybody matching the description or anyone with guns. During a walk-through, more than 100 people were observed inside the business.
Chief Williams “advised to shut the business down for the day the party was dispersed and the business was advised to close for the night,” the report states.
Another call at Amici Tavern on Jan. 20, 2023, reportedly involved an owner and their family.
“The complainant stated herself and her daughter had a verbal altercation over the phone in reference to a insurance bill,” an incident report states. “After this was done the offender arrived on scene and according to multiple witnesses and the complainant she picked up a solid cement brick and threw it at the door.”
A supplement to the report states that the owner eventually decided not to press charges but to have her daughter placed on trespass for the bar.
Other incidents reported include three vehicle break-ins on the same night in February 2024, during which five firearms were taken among other items, and a May 2023 civil disturbance during which a woman nearly hit a police car when she showed up looking for money from her parents.
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