Bouncer shot twice in the head after bar fight over face masks breaks out

A bouncer in North Carolina was left clinging to life after he was shot while trying to break up a fight outside a bar that started over face masks, police said. 

Late on the evening of April 8, a group of men attempted to enter Phat Daddy’s Sports Bar & Grill in Fayetteville without facial coverings. After security denied them entrance because of coronavirus restrictions, the group got into an argument with bouncers and other masked patrons.

Surveillance video allegedly showed the men head to the parking lot, where they again argued with the masked customers and the two groups pulled out guns, WNCN reported.

Will Tavon Francis, 29, allegedly shot bouncer Charles Jackson Jr. as he attempted to break up the fight. Francis was arrested and currently faces an attempted first-degree murder charge. His bond was set at $300,500.

According to a GoFundMe, Jackson was shot twice in the back of the head and rushed to the hospital, where doctors were able to stop the bleeding from the victim’s wounds. 

“However, the battle raged on,” the page notes. “Charles was unable to breath on his own so doctors place him on a ventilator. Now, those of us that know Charles know he is no quitter.”

Jackson “battled for his life over the next 24 hours” and the next day the bouncer was breathing on his own and doctors removed the ventilator, the GoFundMe states.

Jackson is currently in stable condition, police said.

“Mr. Jackson is not just a security guard for me. He’s like my brother — been around me for 20-plus years, so this one hurts real deep,” Kenneth Clark, the bar’s owner, told WNCN.

“You don’t have to come in here — it’s a privilege,” he insisted. “If you don’t want to put on the face mask you don’t have to come in,” Clark said.