Indianapolis Tiki Bob's shooting before closure

INDIANAPOLIS — The day before the owner of Tiki Bob’s closed down the troubled downtown bar, court documents state a man angry about being kicked out fired a gunshot at the building.

A probable cause affidavit in the case against Bill Aaron Jr. states that the incident happened on Feb. 5, the day before Jason Stellema made a social media post that read in part:

“Sadly I no longer have the desire to be deemed responsible for the abhorrent behavior of a minute segment of our society…I refuse to be the scapegoat for the violent crime plaguing the beautiful city of Indianapolis any longer.”

The court document states that Aaron Jr. was kicked out by bar security for pouring alcohol on other patrons and breaking a bottle on the ground. After he was kicked out, security staff told police that he made statements about returning to the bar and shooting at it.

Among the statements, the document states Aaron Jr. said “I’m going to come back and air the [expletive] out.” He also reportedly told the security manager that he had a problem with him.

Aaron Jr. was kicked out of the bar around 1 a.m. Due to the threats, the document states security staff decided to close the business for the night.

An hour later, the document states security camera footage showed a man in a brown leather jacket, dark pants and a ski mask walk up to the bar after being pulled away by a woman. The man walked up to the building, pulled a handgun from his pocket and fired a single round into the business.

The document states this gunshot caused a large crowd to panic and run from the area. A security staff member identified Aaron Jr. as the shooter and told police he thought Aaron Jr. was shooting at him.

Police note that Aaron Jr. was on probation for battery with a deadly weapon at the time of the incident, making him a serious violent felon under Indiana law.

Police pulled Aaron Jr. over and the document states they found a bag of marijuana and a handgun. A separate probable cause affidavit states that Aaron Jr. said both were his along with everything else in his house.

While interviewing Aaron Jr., police said he told them that he admitted to being at Tiki Bob’s. He claimed that he was being tugged on by a woman, causing him to fire off a round into the bar.

The document states that police ended up finding the weapon Aaron Jr. said he used that night while searching his house. Also inside the house, a separate probable cause affidavit states that police found approximately 60 grams of methamphetamine, 48 grams of powdered cocaine, 2.1 pounds of marijuana, 20 Xanax bars and 26 grams of fentanyl. They also found three other handguns.

Aaron Jr. faces charges of: