Plano Bar Under Scrutiny After Mass Shooting Shuts It Down
PLANO (CBSDFW.COM) - Driving past the Local Public House bar in Plano Wednesday, Tonnia Hawkins spotted something that brought a smile to the grieving mother's face.
"I said, 'Yaay!' " she told CBS 11 News.
The restaurant's sign was down, and a man appeared busy loading large items into the back of a truck.
"It's a start. It's a start of healing," Hawkins said.
She holds the bar partially responsible for the murder of her son, Darryl, one of eight killed last year in Plano's deadliest mass shooting.
A TABC report claims bartenders over-served the shooter, Spencer Hight, and failed to alert police after he flashed both "a big knife" and "a pistol" and made ominous warning that "he had dirty work to do."
"I came by every day hoping and anticipating it would close down. And it has. It closed down officially yesterday," said Hawkins.
The Hawkins are among four families who have filed lawsuits against the bar.
Last week, it agreed to surrender its liquor license as part of a settlement with TABC.
For Hawkins, though, the battle isn't over.
"It is hard every minute of the day but I keep fighting," she said.
The owners of the bar, she said, run several others, too.
"I would like to see those bars closed down as well," she said. "It's like one down and five more to go."
