Man Collapses at Town
57-year-old suffers heart attack at local gay nightspot
On Saturday night, May 1, a 57-year-old patron of Town Danceboutique, a popular gay nightclub located in the Shaw neighborhood of Washington, D.C., suffered a heart attack at the venue.
In a message e-mailed Sunday morning, Town co-owner Ed Bailey wrote, ”the club contacted emergency personnel who responded and worked extensively trying to revive him. He was transported to the hospital where he later passed away. We closed the club early due to this horrible event. Our thoughts are with him and his family.”
Brian Christie, a 33-year-old gay resident of Columbia Heights, noticed the man lying unconscious on the floor by a bar near Town’s Quiet Room. The man was reportedly lying on his back and Christie saw blood pooling behind his head.
Christie told the bartender about the man, who informed him that EMT had been notified and were on their way. Shortly thereafter, patrons were escorted downstairs as Town management first closed the upstairs portion of the club, followed by the downstairs.
“They made an announcement that a guy had had a heart attack upstairs and the whole club had to be shut down [for the night],” says Christie.
Metropolitan Police Department Acting Director Gwendolyn Crump said police can confirm that the man was a D.C. resident, but cannot release his name, or any other information at this time.
“We have not located next-of-kin as yet,” she said in an e-mail to Metro Weekly.
This story originally reported the deceased to have been 58, according to Town management. Despite conflicting reports, MPD Acting Director Gwendolyn Crump confirmed that the deceased was 57.
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