Gunfire broke out in the parking lot of Beaumont's Colonnade Shopping Center around 4:30 a.m. Sunday, near Eddie's Tavern on Phelan Boulevard, sending police to investigate what turned out to be yet another shots-fired call at the busy retail and bar hub. No one was hurt, but the incident adds to a string of disturbances that has repeatedly drawn officers to the same stretch of parking lot.
According to The Examiner, Beaumont police are investigating the shooting, which happened near Eddie's Tavern early Sunday morning. Sgt. Hailey Morrow told the outlet that “the call was shots fired in the parking lot. There were no injuries and the incident remains under investigation.” The Colonnade Shopping Center, located on Phelan Boulevard, is home to several nightlife spots including Little Woodrow's, Fast Eddies, JW Patio, and Buckstin Brewing Company.
A Shopping Center With a History of Shots-Fired Calls
Sunday's shooting wasn't an isolated event for the property. The Examiner's report noted that the Colonnade Shopping Center “has been the location of multiple calls of shots fired in the past,” though the report did not tie this latest incident to any specific prior case. The parking lot sits at the center of a cluster of bars and restaurants that has long drawn large late-night crowds.
KFDM reported 21 calls for service tied to trespassing or disturbances between June 1 and Aug. 9. Beaumont Councilman Joey Hilliard has said the lot had been calm for months before a fight involving several young women renewed concerns about disturbances there.
Cameras, Tickets and a City-Backed Crackdown
City and property officials have tried multiple times over the past year to get a handle on the lot's problems. Hilliard has said cameras installed by property owner Albanese Cormier are linked to Beaumont's Real-Time Crime Center, part of a broader safety push the property owner, police, the crime center and Hilliard launched in August 2025, per the same KFDM report.
The city says participation by private camera owners is voluntary: Beaumont police can access cameras shared by residents and organizations, and owners can set limits on whether officers may view live or recorded video. For cameras registered with the system but not integrated for access, officers may contact the owner after an incident. The department’s Real-Time Crime Center guidance says police cannot review footage from before an owner’s consent.
Beaumont’s Real-Time Crime Center grew from three officers working in a conference room in January 2024 and officially opened that July. By the department’s 2024 annual report, it had assisted in more than 270 cases and connected with thousands of registered and integrated cameras. The center’s wider role is to help officers respond to incidents and support investigations, as described in the department’s 2024 annual report.
That initiative followed the posting of “No Trespassing” signs by the property owner, after which police issued 15 trespassing tickets over an eight-week stretch, the station reported last November. Department records cited in that report also showed six reports of disturbance or disorderly conduct at the center since early September of that year, suggesting the enforcement push had some effect in curbing complaints, at least temporarily.
Texas law makes notice central to a criminal-trespass charge: a person may commit the offense by entering or remaining on another person’s property without consent after receiving notice that entry is forbidden, or by failing to leave after being told to do so. The statute recognizes written or oral notice, among other forms. That legal standard explains the role posted signs can play in enforcement, but it does not establish any connection between the earlier tickets and Sunday’s shooting; the Texas criminal-trespass statute sets out the elements.
Earlier KFDM coverage described a separate flashpoint: after-hours crowds gathering near Little Woodrow's that the station called a recurring problem prompting renewed efforts from city leaders and officers. In one incident described to KFDM, Hilliard said parking-lot cameras alerted the Real-Time Crime Center to a crowd, uniformed officers reached the scene within 15 minutes, and the response produced 11 arrests and 15 no-trespassing warnings. Police have described their overall approach as coordination between the property owner, the Real-Time Crime Center and officers responding to calls.
It remains unclear whether Sunday's shooting is connected to any of those earlier disturbances or enforcement efforts. For now, Beaumont police say the case stays open, with no injuries reported and no further details released.
