Man shot outside Barmen in West El Paso a Fort Bliss soldier, officials on post say

ABC-7 has learned more about a shooting outside a West Side bar last weekend that left one man in the hospital and another behind bars.

Thirty-seven-year-old Nickolas Maxwell has been charged with attempted murder. His bond has been set at $500,000. The shooting happened Sunday morning around 12:30 a.m. at Barmen on Mesa Street.

Fort Bliss has confirmed to ABC-7 that the victim, 26 year-old Quintin Brown, is a soldier stationed El Paso. Barmen owner Javier Ramos told ABC-7 Brown is in stable condition.

According to police, a fight began inside the bar and two groups of men were escorted out by employees. After the fight resumed in the parking lot, Brown fired several shots into the air. That’s when Maxwell walked out of the bar, armed with a gun, and shot Brown multiple times, police said.

The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission told ABC-7 it is conducting a “source investigation,” which looks to see if the business is responsible for what happened or if the sale of alcohol contributed in any way.

ABC-7 also learned Barmen was given a written reprimand by the TABC in March for an advertising violation promoting the over-consumption of alcohol and an employee was cited for serving someone underage back in June of 2016.

“It’s always a complicated issue whenever something like this happens, so my respect goes out to both families,” Ramos told ABC-7. “We took Sunday (off), we didn’t open. We wanted to make sure we provided as much respect to the issue. Monday morning, we met with authorities. Tuesday, we’re meeting with the community and we’re taking a step forward.”

ABC-7 has learned Barmen was also on the City of El Paso Inspections Department’s radar. Director Larry Nichols told ABC-7, Barmen “had been subject to routine city wide bar inspection.”

Nichols further stated, “during the last inspection, a number of Barmen facility violations were noted. They were given 30 days to correct, but that time has expired this past week.”

Ramos told ABC-7 the issues are related to the bar’s façade. “Right now, we don’t have a reopening date. My main concern, right now, is trying to fix what we have as far as the façade goes. Hopefully, we can try to reopen as soon as I get word from my contractors.”

Ramos has scheduled a meeting for 6 p.m. Tuesday at Barmen to speak with neighbors who may be concerned.