YOUNGSTOWN – Police Chief Carl Davis said today that because of the amount of violence and shooting deaths occurring at or around drinking establishments in Youngstown, the city will implement extra steps to involve club owners.

“There is a substantial link around violence and area bars and nightclubs,” he said. “We have had five major shootings involving these bars and nightclubs.”

He said one solution is to “manage large crowds leaving the bars without targeting specific individuals,” Davis said. “We have met with several bar owners recently and have discussed plans to make bars and clubs safer by actively prompting dispersal at the end of the night.”

One of the shootings was at Utopia Video Nightclub early April 3 on Midlothian Boulevard on the South Side that left local rapper Charles Allen Jr., 27, dead. Police said Wednesday they have no updates on that case.

Another one involving a bar was at the Torch Club Bar and Grill on Salt Springs Road on the West Side May 23 where two men were shot to death and two others were wounded. Capt. Rod Foley of the Youngstown Police Department said they are still waiting for ballistics evidence to return from the state’s crime lab.

Regarding the three people who were shot at Miss Daisy’s Place on South Avenue early Sunday, Foley said the two female victims were released from the hospital the same night and the male who was shot is “recovering.”

He said detectives believe one person committed the shootings, but police are still investigating to determine what caused the shootings.

For this complete story, read Thursday’s newspaper.