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Baton Rouge police target after-hours clubs with arrests and firearms recovered
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BATON ROUGE - Baton Rouge police have launched an operation targeting after-hours clubs and it has already resulted in multiple arrests and firearm recoveries.
According to police, the effort is focused on large crowds gathering into the early morning hours across the city.
During the first weekend of the operation, police used a drone to monitor crowds. Chief TJ Morse said officers spotted people carrying guns and some fled when police moved in.
"We saw people with guns flashing guns around," Morse said, "had people drop guns, start running."
Morse called the operation successful, pointing to the weapons and arrests made so far.
"We were able to recover several firearms," Morse said, "make several arrests out there."
One club at the center of concerns for months, the Little Blue House on Osage Street, is now closed. City officials found alcohol on-site despite the business being classified as a reception hall without alcohol.
"That specific establishment has been on the radar for a while," Morse said, "they were definitely operating outside of what they were licensed to do."
Neighbors near the Little Blue House said they are glad to see it closed. One neighbor, who did not want to be identified due to fear of retaliation, showed bullet holes in her home she believes came from people attending the club.
Another neighbor, who also did not want to be identified, said club-goers left trash throughout the neighborhood and played loud music at all hours of the night.
"I don't want to be around y'all drunk, wilding out, yelling, being loud," the neighbor said.
There is a history of violence tied to after-hours clubs in Baton Rouge. Prenesha Wagner was shot and killed near the Big Blue House on Choctaw Drive in 2025. Demarcus Variste was shot and killed earlier this year outside the Little Blue House.
Police say the main goal of the operation is violence prevention.
"Visibility is always helpful," Morse said, "if we can be visible and discourage the gatherings and then the violence that could happen after that."
The Baton Rouge Police Department is also working with the Metro Council to tighten city ordinances and with Alcohol and Tobacco Control officials to hold club owners accountable.
Morse said the extra enforcement will continue as long as police see a need.
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