A 37-year-old man was found across the street from LinQ Social Kitchen early Saturday morning after telling first responders he had been shot inside the Nashville nightclub. One witness said he was nearly trampled in the rush to escape gunfire. The shooting has reignited questions about safety at the club off Murfreesboro Pike, which reopened in July.
Panic Erupts Inside a Packed Club
Zachery Newsom, who was at LinQ that night, described the club as packed and over capacity when a fight broke out inside, followed by gunfire near the bar, according to WSMV. Newsom said he was nearly trampled in the chaos that followed, estimating that seven or eight people ended up on top of him as the crowd scrambled for the exits. He told WKRN News 2 that the club's DJ initially told patrons the noise was confetti, not gunfire.
Nashville Fire Department paramedics encountered the shooting victim across the street from LinQ at approximately 1:20 a.m., according to the Metro Nashville Police Department. The 37-year-old man reportedly told first responders he had been shot inside LinQ, and MNPD said his injuries were non-life-threatening. The victim's sister, who was with him, said the gunfire followed a fight, according to the same WSMV report.
Sister Describes Fight in Club's Main Bar Area
According to a law enforcement statement cited by WKRN News 2, the victim's sister said the shooting occurred during a fight in the club's main bar area, and that she ran to the bathroom during the commotion. When she came out, she realized her brother had gone outside. Police have not identified any suspects, and MNPD said the Saturday morning shooting remains under investigation.
LinQ said in a statement that it is cooperating with law enforcement but cannot independently confirm the specific circumstances or people involved. The club added that it uses an outside company for security services and that its leadership is reviewing security operations, staffing and on-site oversight in the wake of the shooting, per the WSMV report.
A Club With a Troubled Recent History
LinQ reopened on July 3 after its owners announced additional outdoor security measures, including parking-lot patrols, following a stop-work order from Metro. That closure came in April after two customers were killed in a hit-and-run while crossing Lafayette Street after leaving the business, as reported by WKRN News 2. Since reopening in July, the club has drawn 51 calls for service, including assault and noise complaints, per WSMV.
Metro Nashville Police have separately said they received 37 calls to LinQ since March, four of which involved security guards pepper-spraying women. A woman was also injured in a shooting outside LinQ in August, according to the same WKRN News 2 report that first surfaced the pepper-spray allegations.
Part of a Broader Pattern at Nashville Nightclubs
LinQ is not the only Nashville nightclub to see gunfire follow an altercation inside. Three people were shot outside Illuzion Lounge on Murfreesboro Pike on Oct. 1 after a fight broke out inside the club and several people were ejected, with two separate groups and security guards all firing shots, according to WKRN News 2. In May, three people were shot outside La Danse nightclub on Rosa Parks Boulevard in downtown Nashville after a fight that began inside the venue, according to Fox17. Despite those incidents, Fox17 reports that aggravated assaults in the city's central district were down 20% in 2026 year over year, part of a broader decline in violent crime that saw citywide figures drop nearly 14% in 2025 and homicides fall to their lowest level in a decade.
