Birmingham leaders next month will discuss revoking the business license of The Quest Club Inc., a private 24-hour nightclub that was the scene of a May shooting in which two men died.

The City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to set the public hearing for Sept. 10 at 9:30 a.m. during its regularly scheduled meeting on the third floor of City Hall. Interested parties will be able to sign up to speak prior to the hearing.

Birmingham police responded to the shooting at The Quest, on 24th Street South, in the early morning hours of May 24 and found two men with gunshot wounds. Terrance Terrell Brown Jr., 32, of Birmingham, was pronounced dead at the scene. The other gunshot victim, 32-year-old Shane Gady of Birmingham, was rushed to the hospital and died from his injuries two days later. Investigators believe the two men shot each other during an altercation, according to a news release from the police department.

A 45-year-old man was shot and killed at the Quest in 2022, and a Birmingham police officer was shot while trying to disarm a patron with a gun at the club in 2021.

Before the recent shootings, however, The Quest was better known for its popularity with the city’s LGBTQ community, hosting dance parties and drag queen shows.

The council’s upcoming hearing for the club is part of a push by city leaders to target businesses with high crime rates.

The council held a similar public hearing in June for the CRU Lounge, a nightclub on First Avenue North. The city attorney’s office in May sued the owners and operators of the business, requesting a judge shut it down. Officials say the business has been a hotspot for exhibition driving and other crime.

The city also sued the owners and operators of properties at 800 and 814 3rd Avenue West in May due to a high rate of violence at a Shell service station there.

Birmingham officials allege in a release that the properties have been “essentially used as a launching pad for criminal activity” including drug sales and violence. In the past two years, Birmingham Police have responded to hundreds of calls at or near the properties. City officials said Birmingham police received more than 50 calls concerning the properties in one month.

Public Safety Cameras

In other business, the council approved two public safety items during Tuesday’s meeting. The first is an agreement with the Birmingham Board of Education to share its video feeds from cameras on school properties, which are in public areas such as lobbies, building exteriors and athletic facilities.

“These feeds will be shared with the Birmingham Police Department in real time. Keeping our students safe is the highest priority we have here,” Councilor Hunter William said. “A lot of the times we already have school resource officers deployed at sporting events or other large events, but if we have an emergency come up, having these camera feeds available to law enforcement could help save lives. They will be able to advise responding units exactly where they need to go, whether that’s a medical emergency or something else.”

The second public safety item passed by the council is to buy three additional mobile camera units that can be deployed to hotspots throughout the city. City officials say they expect the devices to help in their efforts to reduce exhibition driving.