Columbus City Attorney Zach Klein is asking a Franklin County court to hold the owners of First Stop Bar and Grill in contempt after a shooting at the bar this past weekend left two people injured, according to Klein’s office.
The bar, located at 1427 Oakland Park Avenue in North Linden, has a history of violent incidents, liquor code violations, and multiple shootings going back to at least 2018. The city is now pushing to shut it down entirely.
What Led to This Point
Klein’s property action team filed a lawsuit against the bar owners in July 2025 after repeated calls to police for violence and disturbances. The bar reached an agreement with the city in September 2025 to keep operating under strict conditions. Those conditions included maintaining a trespass list, staying within curfew hours, banning firearms inside, installing a metal detector, and setting up a working security camera system.
According to Klein’s office, the bar violated all of those conditions. The city rejected the bar’s liquor permit in 2022 because of its criminal history, then withdrew the objection after the owners agreed to requirements that were later ignored.
A contempt hearing is now scheduled for April 15.
A Cold Case Tied to the Same Address
The bar’s violent history stretches back to February 2018, when the location was still called Oakland Park Bar and Grill. Shawn Patilla was working security at the bar when someone shot and killed him. More than eight years later, his case is cold. There are no suspects.
His daughter Kiara Patilla said she still has not gotten answers.
“As much as I would love to get this case solved and get some justice, the only justice that I’m going to have is that person sitting and dealing with it, and it haunting them for the rest of their life while they’re here on earth,” she said.
Kiara said she meets people around Columbus who still remember her father.
“Till this day I still meet people who they see my last name, and they were like, oh are you related to Shawn, and I’m like, yeah, that’s my dad,” she said.
She said the continuing violence at the bar upsets her. “It does make me upset that other people are losing their lives or getting shot, because no one should ever experience that,” she said.
Bar Owners Did Not Respond
Reporters visited the bar two days after the weekend shooting. The door was locked and no one answered. A call to the business phone number also went unanswered.
The identities of the two victims injured in the weekend shooting have not been released.
Anyone with information about the 2018 murder of Shawn Patilla can contact Columbus Police Homicide at 614-645-4730 or Central Ohio Crime Stoppers at 614-461-8477.
This article is based on statements from Columbus City Attorney Zach Klein’s office, and Franklin County court records.
Published: March 24, 2026 | ColumbusFrontline.com