ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – What was supposed to be a relaxing Sunday night for some, quickly turned chaotic outside an Albuquerque brewpub. It all happened after a man with a gun was accused of assaulting a worker and shooting that gun.
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Video showed the moment gunshots rang out in front of the Quarter Celtic brewpub Sunday night. Customers and staff inside the northeast Albuquerque restaurant started hiding under tables and ran to the back of the building. It all began Sunday night at the pub’s Juan Tabo and Indian School location. Police said 41-year-old, Brandon Hovey came into the brewpub with another guy, but within about 20 minutes problems emerged.
“Apparently he had been really aggressive and really uncomfortable, physical contact with one of my staff members, was asked to leave and was unhappy with that situation and decided to pick a fight,” said Chris Gibula, General Manager of Quarter Celtic.
Surveillance video showed Hovey, getting up from his table and walking toward a waitress, who can be seen backing away from Hovey. Eventually, the video showed him sitting down, but a few minutes later the manager brought him his food and asked Hovey to leave. That’s when the video showed things taking a turn.
“I received a phone call from my cook saying, telling me what was going down. With the incident saying that a customer had been escorted out and had discharged his weapon,” said Gibula.
Albuquerque police said once outside, Hovey took out a gun from his friend’s car and used it to hit the manager in the stomach. Hovey then shot four rounds into the air before running away. Quarter Celtic said even though it was a shocking incident, they’re grateful no one was seriously injured. “Hopefully something like this doesn’t happen again so we can kind of just move past it, it’s just a speed bump and move on,” says Gibula.
Hovey was later arrested a block away, walking along Juan Tabo, but no gun was found on him. He is facing aggravated assault and other charges. Quarter Celtic said they were forced to shut down early on Sunday but have since reopened.