Melbourne mayor on recent shootings: ‘I’m very concerned’

MELBOURNE, Fla. — The mayor of Melbourne wants to address a recent string of violence within the city, including a deadly shooting inside a packed sports bar.

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The most recent shooting killed a man inside Off the Traxx, a popular downtown Melbourne sports bar and grill early Sunday. Police are still working to identify a suspect in that case which left 34-year-old Alain Noel dead and an employee injured.

It’s just the latest in a string of shootings.

On Feb. 27, police responded to three separate shootings, all in South Melbourne. Several people were injured.

READ: One person killed in shooting at popular Central Florida sports bar, police say

Melbourne Mayor Paul Alfrey told Channel 9 he was downtown when it happened.

“I was in the parking garage and we had the officers come around and clear the area,” he said. “But I’m very concerned (about) a couple of things we care about – the safety, security of our patrons, our residents of our downtown businesses.”

It’s not part of the city council agenda, but on Tuesday evening Alfrey said he expects the shootings will likely come up during public discussion.

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“I definitely don’t want to jump to conclusions (if it) is just a random incident,” he said. “We don’t know if the suspect seeked out the victim and he happened to be at that location.”

The mayor said he believes that the city’s downtown is safe, but that doesn’t mean he won’t consider asking for additional officers downtown. He said it’s also possible that the city will review Off the Traxx’s conditional use permit.

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“My concern as a mayor is that we have a safe downtown and a prosperous downtown,” Alfrey said.

Off the Traxx was still closed as of Tuesday afternoon. It’s not clear when it might reopen.

VIDEO: Police release 911 calls of frantic scene following deadly shooting at Melbourne bar VIDEO: Police release 911 calls of frantic scene following deadly shooting at Melbourne bar (Melonie Holt, WFTV.com/WFTV)

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